Becker Capital Management Inc. Makes New $209,000 Investment in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Becker Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,391 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter worth approximately $490,933,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Corning by 139.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,900,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $186,186,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,436 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,869,358 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $183,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215,840 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Corning in the 4th quarter valued at $92,522,000. Finally, Appaloosa LP bought a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at $71,280,000. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GLW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.08.

Corning Price Performance

Corning stock opened at $44.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $38.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.47, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.56. Corning Incorporated has a 52 week low of $32.84 and a 52 week high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In related news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $892,743.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.