Centaurus Financial Inc. Boosts Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,714 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Corning by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 13,016 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 6,370 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter worth $14,369,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Corning by 284.5% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 115,963 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 85,806 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Corning by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 21,687 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter worth $585,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other Corning news, VP John Z. Zhang sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.91, for a total transaction of $375,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $450,805.10. This trade represents a 45.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the business’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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,291 shares of company stock valued at $3,307,320. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $52.00 price objective on Corning in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.08.

Corning Stock Performance

NYSE GLW opened at $49.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.43, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $36.58 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.38%.

Corning Profile

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.