Avery H. Nelson III Sells 36,240 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Stock

Key Points

• Avery H. Nelson III, COO of Corning Incorporated, sold 36,240 shares of the company’s stock for a total of $2,256,302.40, significantly reducing his ownership by 35.85%.
• Corning reported $0.60 earnings per share for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $3.86 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting a 1.8% dividend yield, and has a dividend payout ratio of 119.15%.

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) COO Avery H. Nelson III sold 36,240 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $2,256,302.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,036,813.88. This represents a 35.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Corning Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:GLW traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.03. 5,845,060 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,070,007. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.13 billion, a PE ratio of 65.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08. The business's 50 day moving average is $52.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $63.91.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. Corning had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 17.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Corning's dividend payout ratio is 119.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corning

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter valued at about $124,253,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of Corning by 64.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,408,605 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $271,237,000 after buying an additional 2,507,797 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corning during the first quarter valued at about $104,789,000. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Corning by 134.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,869,358 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $183,867,000 after buying an additional 2,215,840 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corning during the second quarter valued at about $92,560,000. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GLW. Morgan Stanley set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Corning and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Corning from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Corning from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Corning from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Corning in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Corning currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.25.

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.