Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 31,735 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 688,137 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 31,735 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.08% of Corning worth $32,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Corning by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Corning by 202.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GLW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $1,557,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of GLW opened at $46.86 on Friday. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $30.72 and a one year high of $55.33. The company has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.47.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

About Corning

Corning Incorporated engages in the display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes that are used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices.