Zions Bancorporation N.A. Lowers Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. cut its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,654 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 439 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Corning were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi increased its stake in Corning by 139.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $92,522,000. Appaloosa LP bought a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,280,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Corning by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $168,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Corning by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,983,090 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,534,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,718 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GLW. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of GLW opened at $47.07 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.97 and a 200 day moving average of $47.88. The company has a market cap of $40.32 billion, a PE ratio of 81.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.