State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Sells 111,535 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. lessened its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,919,847 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 111,535 shares during the quarter. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. owned approximately 1.63% of Corning worth $661,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GLW. Northstar Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 89,268 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Corning by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $8,975,000 after purchasing an additional 62,514 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Corning by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $168,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Corning by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $5,296,000 after buying an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Corning by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $6,565,000 after buying an additional 29,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GLW. Citigroup increased their price target on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Corning from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Corning from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Corning from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Corning currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GLW traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.53. The company had a trading volume of 6,073,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,764,599. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $30.72 and a 1 year high of $55.33. The company has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.98.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Corning's payout ratio is 193.10%.

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.