First Merchants Corp Decreases Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

First Merchants Corp lessened its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 39.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,153 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 5,382 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Corning were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GLW. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Corning by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $3,139,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Corning by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 2,422 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Seeds Investor LLC grew its stake in shares of Corning by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 7,708 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Corning by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Corning by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,688 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Corning Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Corning stock opened at $51.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.92. The company has a market cap of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Corning Incorporated has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Corning's dividend payout ratio is currently 215.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $892,743.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Soumya Seetharam sold 6,505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $325,315.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,250,250. This trade represents a 20.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,632,635. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GLW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $52.00 price target on Corning in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.75.

Corning Company 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.

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