Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 39,615 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,894 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 39,615 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Corning were worth $16,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Corning by 115.8% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 887 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Corning

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Soumya Seetharam sold 14,313 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $715,793.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,575,565.05. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,796 shares of company stock worth $3,632,635. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GLW traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.87. The company had a trading volume of 5,295,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,681,623. Corning Incorporated has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.89.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Corning had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $52.00 price target on Corning in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Corning currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.75.

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.