Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Grows Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 61.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,571 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 81,300 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Corning were worth $10,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Corning by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,736 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in Corning by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 11,136 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 12,589 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Corning by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 8,177 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 6,226 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of GLW stock opened at $51.46 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.77. The company has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 88.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $55.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Equities research 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, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 193.11%.

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.