Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 4,922 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. decreased its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 179,876 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 4,922 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Corning were worth $8,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Corning by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,984 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Corning by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,429 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189 shares during the period. Otter Creek Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Otter Creek Advisors LLC now owns 84,126 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,998,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,996,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Corning by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 185,597 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,820,000 after buying an additional 11,789 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of GLW stock opened at $50.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.10. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $30.72 and a one year high of $55.33. The firm has a market cap of $43.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GLW shares. StockNews.com lowered Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

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.