Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 279,088 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 69.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 123,517 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 279,088 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Corning were worth $5,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter worth $490,933,000. Amundi raised its stake in Corning by 139.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,900,808 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $186,186,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,436 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Corning by 134.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,869,358 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $183,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215,840 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $92,522,000. Finally, Appaloosa LP purchased a new position in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter worth about $71,280,000. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $52.00 price objective on Corning in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Corning from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.08.

Insider Activity at Corning

In related news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 currently owned by insiders.

Corning Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GLW traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.77. 4,838,895 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,983,350. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $38.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.19, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 52 week low of $32.84 and a 52 week high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Corning's payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

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.