IFM Investors Pty Ltd Boosts Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 164,148 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 10,989 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Corning were worth $7,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,192 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 8,391 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated purchased a new position in Corning during the first quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Conning Inc. raised its position in Corning by 2.0% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 750,394 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $34,353,000 after acquiring an additional 14,410 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Corning by 2.5% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 13,334 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Corning by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 93,487 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $4,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,365 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GLW shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho set a $52.00 price target on Corning in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $892,743.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stefan Becker sold 17,106 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.68, for a total transaction of $849,826.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,117 shares in the company, valued at $800,692.56. This trade represents a 51.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,796 shares of company stock worth $3,632,635. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GLW traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $52.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,233,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,636,013. The company has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.11. Corning Incorporated has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $55.33. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $49.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.69.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Corning's payout ratio is currently 215.38%.

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.