Corning Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 67,678 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 385% compared to the typical volume of 13,955 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Corning

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $490,933,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $124,253,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Corning by 139.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,900,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $186,186,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,436 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Corning by 134.0% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,869,358 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $183,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter valued at about $92,522,000. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Corning Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:GLW traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.86. The stock had a trading volume of 7,448,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,435,741. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.89 and its 200-day moving average is $47.43. The company has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning has a one year low of $30.72 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.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Corning will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Corning’s payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

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.