UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Corning (NYSE:GLW) Stock

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by UBS Group from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the electronics maker's stock. UBS Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.05% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on GLW. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Corning in a report on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Corning from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.82.

Corning Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE GLW traded down $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.27. The stock had a trading volume of 3,430,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,429,150. Corning has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $44.77 billion, a PE ratio of 100.52, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.20.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Corning will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Z. Zhang sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 9,610 shares in the company, valued at $450,805.10. This represents a 45.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,632,635. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corning

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,903,247 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $4,747,402,000 after buying an additional 916,528 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,470,610 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $875,633,000 after buying an additional 533,686 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,870,375 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $516,560,000 after buying an additional 208,826 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter worth $490,933,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,800,573 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $465,723,000 after buying an additional 78,497 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.