Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Shares Bought by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,194 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Corning by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,139,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Corning by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal raised its holdings in Corning by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Corning by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 19,581 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GLW shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of GLW opened at $45.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week 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 50 day moving average price of $49.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.00.

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

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.10%.

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.