9,535 Shares in Corning Incorporated $GLW Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC has purchased a new stake in Corning Incorporated, acquiring 9,535 shares valued at approximately $436,000.
• Corning's stock has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with an average target price of $65.17 from analysts.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.60, exceeding analysts' expectations, and plans to pay a dividend of $0.28 on September 29th.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,535 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $436,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GLW. LMR Partners LLP lifted its position in Corning by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 1,200,442 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $57,045,000 after purchasing an additional 700,442 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 29.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,358 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 1.3% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 22,379 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 1.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,300,954 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $59,558,000 after acquiring an additional 23,781 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GLW. Barclays upped their target price on Corning from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Corning in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Corning from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Corning from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Corning from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Corning currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Paul O'day sold 14,879 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.36, for a total value of $927,854.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 35,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,228,933.48. This trade represents a 29.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Avery H. Nelson III sold 36,240 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $2,256,302.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,036,813.88. The trade was a 35.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 211,484 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,804. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corning Stock Performance

NYSE:GLW traded up $0.23 on Monday, hitting $65.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,745,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,630,651. The stock has a market cap of $56.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $55.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.13. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $37.31 and a 52-week high of $66.50.

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

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.15%.

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.