Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Corning Call Options (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 22,076 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 526% compared to the average daily volume of 3,525 call options.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In other news, Vice Chairman Lawrence D. Mcrae sold 77,464 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.24, for a total transaction of $2,574,903.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 215,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,155,042.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corning

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Corning in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Corning in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 173.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Corning by 800.0% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 900 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Corning by 232.9% in the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 932 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GLW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Corning from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Corning from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Corning from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Corning in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Corning from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.56.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of GLW traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $30.89. The company had a trading volume of 4,653,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,756,292. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $32.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.38. Corning has a 1-year low of $25.26 and a 1-year high of $36.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.08.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39. Corning had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Corning will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Corning's dividend payout ratio is presently 167.16%.

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.