Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Shares Sold by Benson Investment Management Company Inc.

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. trimmed its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,302 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 10,745 shares during the period. Corning comprises about 2.0% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $4,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth $302,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,114 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Corning by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,965 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in Corning by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 13,302 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Corning by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,682 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corning news, VP John Z. Zhang sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.91, for a total value of $375,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $450,805.10. The trade was a 45.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Soumya Seetharam sold 6,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $325,315.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,250,250. The trade was a 20.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,632,635 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Corning Stock Up 1.5%

GLW stock opened at $50.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.60. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $36.58 and a 52-week high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 215.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GLW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Corning in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.08.

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.