Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $5.51 Million Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 284.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,963 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 85,806 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Corning were worth $5,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLW. Gotham Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Corning in the 4th quarter worth about $306,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,570,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Corning by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 602,240 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $28,649,000 after purchasing an additional 65,108 shares in the last quarter. Francis Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Corning by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Francis Financial Inc. now owns 23,806 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Corning by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 199,874 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $9,498,000 after purchasing an additional 105,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Z. Zhang sold 8,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.91, for a total transaction of $375,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,610 shares in the company, valued at $450,805.10. The trade was a 45.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $892,743.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Corning Price Performance

GLW stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.25. 4,639,459 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,944,093. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $35.01 and a one year high of $55.33. The stock has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on GLW shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.08.

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.