Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Holdings Increased by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,127 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Corning by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Corning in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Corning by 202.4% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GLW. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. HSBC raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.31.

Corning Stock Performance

GLW stock opened at $47.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $40.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. 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 simple moving average of $49.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.88. Corning Incorporated has a 52 week low of $30.72 and a 52 week high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Research analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Corning’s payout ratio is 193.10%.

About Corning

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.