Guardian Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 17,855 Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 17,855 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $852,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,777 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Corning during the third quarter worth about $106,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Corning during the third quarter worth about $264,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Corning in the third quarter worth about $1,532,000. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 44.3% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 42,488 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,037 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GLW. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Corning presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.31.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the 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. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of GLW opened at $48.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.60, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $30.72 and a one year high of $55.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.91 and a 200 day moving average of $47.67.

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

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.31%. Corning’s 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.