Vest Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,686 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GLW. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Corning by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,630 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Corning during the third quarter worth $217,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Corning by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,522 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Corning by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 25,756 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 3,929 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Corning by 699.9% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 6,743 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were 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. Insiders have sold 46,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,345,436 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Corning Price Performance

GLW stock opened at $52.99 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.94. The firm has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.36, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.03. 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 1 year low of $30.72 and a 1 year high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.