AGP Franklin LLC Acquires New Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

AGP Franklin LLC bought a new position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 51,198 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,433,000. Corning accounts for 1.5% of AGP Franklin LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Corning by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,903,247 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,747,402,000 after purchasing an additional 916,528 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Corning by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,470,610 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $875,633,000 after purchasing an additional 533,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $490,933,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Corning by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,048,735 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $287,436,000 after buying an additional 293,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Corning by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,937,981 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $234,653,000 after buying an additional 84,905 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Corning

In related news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GLW. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays cut their price objective on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.69.

Corning Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $41.57 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $35.62 billion, a PE ratio of 71.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.34 and a 200-day moving average of $47.78. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio 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.