Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 779 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Wambolt & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,432 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 779 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northstar Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Corning by 258.4% in the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,883,000 after acquiring an additional 89,268 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Corning by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,975,000 after purchasing an additional 62,514 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $168,095,000 after buying an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Corning by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,296,000 after buying an additional 16,001 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Corning by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after buying an additional 29,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GLW. Barclays cut their price objective on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corning presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of GLW stock opened at $48.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Corning Incorporated has a 12 month low of $30.72 and a 12 month high of $55.33. The firm has a market cap of $41.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.43, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.83.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Research analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.10%.

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.