Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,439 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,220 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Corning in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 202.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on GLW shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Corning Stock Up 2.8 %

Corning stock opened at $46.86 on Friday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $49.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.47. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The company has a market capitalization of $40.13 billion, a PE ratio of 80.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted 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%. Research analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.10%.

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.