Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 59,679 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,581,217 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 59,679 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $122,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Corning by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Corning by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 810 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company’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. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GLW shares. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of GLW opened at $48.14 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.19 and its 200 day moving average is $47.21. Corning Incorporated has a 12-month low of $30.72 and a 12-month high of $55.33. 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 stock has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.10%.

Corning Company 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.