CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Decreases Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co decreased its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 628,445 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 80,495 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Corning were worth $29,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $490,933,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Corning by 139.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,900,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $186,186,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,436 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 134.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,869,358 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $183,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,215,840 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $92,522,000. Finally, Appaloosa LP bought a new stake in shares of Corning during the 4th quarter valued at $71,280,000. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GLW shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.31.

Corning Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $41.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.55, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $31.20 and a one year high of $55.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.67.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.