Norges Bank Invests $490.93 Million in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,331,083 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $490,933,000. Norges Bank owned 1.21% of Corning at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Corning by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,139,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in Corning by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its stake in Corning by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Corning by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 19,581 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Corning Trading Down 1.4 %

GLW stock opened at $45.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.86. 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 fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. Analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Corning’s payout ratio is 193.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, 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. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.