Vest Financial LLC Acquires 6,538 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 39.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,224 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,538 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GLW. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Corning by 0.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Corning by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Corning by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 2,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in Corning by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Corning by 1.1% during 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 during the period. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $52.00 price target on shares of Corning in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Corning has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.08.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of GLW stock opened at $50.74 on Monday. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $36.58 and a one year high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.68. The firm has a market cap of $43.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.11.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Corning’s payout ratio is 215.38%.

Insider Activity

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $892,743.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Soumya Seetharam sold 6,505 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $325,315.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,250. This trade represents a 20.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,632,635 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Corning Company 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.