Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Raises Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 81.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,867 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 840 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $89,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GLW. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Corning by 139.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,900,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $186,186,000 after buying an additional 2,268,436 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,522,000. Appaloosa LP purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,280,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $168,095,000 after buying an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Corning by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,983,090 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,534,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,718 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GLW has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.31.

Corning Stock Performance

NYSE:GLW opened at $48.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The stock has a market cap of $41.53 billion, a PE ratio of 83.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.72.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Analysts expect 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, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares in the company, 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. 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.