Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Shares Purchased by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 111.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,874 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 105,193 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Corning were worth $9,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,903,247 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $4,747,402,000 after purchasing an additional 916,528 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,470,610 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $875,633,000 after purchasing an additional 533,686 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,870,375 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $516,560,000 after purchasing an additional 208,826 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter valued at about $490,933,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,800,573 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $465,723,000 after purchasing an additional 78,497 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Corning from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Mizuho set a $52.00 price objective on Corning in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.08.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of GLW stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $48.25. 4,639,459 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,944,093. The company has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company's 50 day moving average is $44.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.50. Corning Incorporated has a 1 year low of $35.01 and a 1 year high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 period last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Corning's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Corning's payout ratio is currently 215.38%.

Insider Activity at Corning

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

Corning Profile

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.