Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 1,131 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. cut its position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,823 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,903,247 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,747,402,000 after purchasing an additional 916,528 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,470,610 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $875,633,000 after buying an additional 533,686 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Corning by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,870,375 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $516,560,000 after buying an additional 208,826 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter worth about $490,933,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Corning by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,800,573 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $465,723,000 after acquiring an additional 78,497 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.08.

Corning Price Performance

NYSE GLW opened at $44.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $38.44 billion, a PE ratio of 77.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $33.30 and a 52-week high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.52.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.38%.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In related news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $892,743.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.