Corning Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 26,415 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 96% compared to the average daily volume of 13,497 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GLW shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 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. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corning

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Corning by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Corning Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Corning stock traded down $1.01 on Tuesday, hitting $49.77. 2,228,480 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,471,570. Corning has a 52 week low of $30.72 and a 52 week high of $55.33. The company has a market cap of $42.63 billion, a PE ratio of 85.69, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Corning will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.