Corning (NYSE:GLW) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $58.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Corning traded as high as $51.12 and last traded at $50.88, with a volume of 532802 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.84.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Corning from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Corning news, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total transaction of $435,722.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.39, for a total transaction of $241,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $324,213. This represents a 42.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corning

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GLW. CX Institutional grew its stake in Corning by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 21,860 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Corning by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Corning by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Corning by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Up 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 301.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.16.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. Corning had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.