Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 284.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,963 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 85,806 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Corning were worth $5,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Corning by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $3,139,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Corning by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Corning by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 2,422 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Corning by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal grew its holdings in Corning by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Soumya Seetharam sold 14,313 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,575,565.05. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,291 shares of company stock worth $3,307,320. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC upgraded shares of Corning from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Corning from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.08.

Corning Price Performance

Corning stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.55. 12,836,651 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,024,691. Corning Incorporated has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $55.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.55. The company has a market cap of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.43, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 215.38%.

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.