Analysts Set Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Target Price at $54.31

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.31.

GLW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its stake in shares of Corning by 0.6% during the first quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 68,969 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter worth approximately $613,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Corning by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,277,173 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $60,691,000 after buying an additional 14,560 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Corning by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,714 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Corning by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 13,016 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 6,370 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Corning Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE GLW opened at $45.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.00. Corning has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $55.33. The company has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.49, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Corning will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.