Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 46,400 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,413,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GLW. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 22.1% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 65,555 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 11,884 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corning in the first quarter valued at about $588,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 15.5% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,922 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Corning by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,746,889 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $3,423,287,000 after acquiring an additional 671,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Corning by 24.4% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 714,932 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $26,388,000 after acquiring an additional 140,098 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Corning from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $29.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Corning from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Corning in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corning has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.56.

Corning Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE GLW traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.27. 4,636,555 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,059,459. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $25.26 and a 52-week high of $36.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.40. The company has a market capitalization of $26.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Corning's revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Corning's payout ratio is 167.16%.

Insider Activity at Corning

In related news, Vice Chairman Lawrence D. Mcrae sold 77,464 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.24, for a total value of $2,574,903.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 215,254 shares in the company, valued at $7,155,042.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.