16,843 Shares in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Bought by Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd

Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd bought a new stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 16,843 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Corning by 8.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,892,946 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $85,468,000 after purchasing an additional 148,042 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Corning by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,212 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Corning by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,994 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $302,000. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $1,050,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC upgraded Corning from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Corning from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Z. Zhang sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.91, for a total transaction of $375,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,610 shares in the company, valued at $450,805.10. The trade was a 45.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Corning Price Performance

NYSE GLW traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $48.53. The company had a trading volume of 7,648,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,952,702. The company has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 83.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.50. Corning Incorporated has a twelve month low of $35.40 and a twelve month 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.63 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Corning's dividend payout ratio is currently 215.38%.

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.