Corning (NYSE:GLW) Stock Price Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) shares shot up 0.8% on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $40.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Corning traded as high as $40.41 and last traded at $40.33. 1,149,543 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 6,195,134 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.01.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GLW. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Corning from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC raised Corning from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Corning in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, VP Martin J. Curran sold 16,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total transaction of $553,219.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 65,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,210,652.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Jeffrey W. Evenson sold 103,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.19, for a total transaction of $3,433,074.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 70,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,950.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Martin J. Curran sold 16,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $553,219.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 65,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,210,652.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,683 shares of company stock valued at $4,466,007 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,312,779 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $953,474,000 after buying an additional 2,597,878 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Corning by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,200,828 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $566,941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464,893 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Corning by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,722,106 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $296,054,000 after purchasing an additional 146,807 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,721,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Corning by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,179,283 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $218,609,000 after purchasing an additional 105,994 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Corning Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.13. The stock has a market cap of $34.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.80, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Corning had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Corning’s payout ratio is 157.75%.

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.