Corning Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 26,415 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 96% compared to the typical volume of 13,497 call options.

Corning Price Performance

NYSE GLW traded down $1.01 on Tuesday, hitting $49.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,228,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,471,570. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $42.63 billion, a PE ratio of 85.69, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning has a 12-month low of $30.72 and a 12-month high of $55.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.86.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. As a group, analysts predict that Corning will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 193.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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 Corning stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Corning

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Corning by 258.4% during the 4th quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,883,000 after purchasing an additional 89,268 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Corning by 48.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,975,000 after acquiring an additional 62,514 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Corning by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $168,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Corning by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after acquiring an additional 16,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in Corning by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after acquiring an additional 29,790 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Corning Company 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.