Verity & Verity LLC Has $24.31 Million Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Verity & Verity LLC cut its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 20.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 530,991 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 133,283 shares during the quarter. Corning accounts for 2.1% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $24,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, SVP Stefan Becker sold 17,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.68, for a total transaction of $849,826.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,692.56. This represents a 51.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $892,743.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,796 shares of company stock worth $3,632,635 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corning Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Corning stock opened at $50.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.76. Corning Incorporated has a 12-month low of $37.05 and a 12-month high of $55.33. The company has a market capitalization of $43.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.11. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. Corning’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 215.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GLW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho set a $52.00 price objective on Corning in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corning presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.08.

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.