Quarry LP Acquires Shares of 12,684 Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,684 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.31.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GLW opened at $44.18 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $31.37 and a 52 week high of $55.33. The firm has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a PE ratio of 76.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $45.45 and its 200-day moving average is $47.60.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.