Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Free Report) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,174,078 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 1,737,294 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.60% of Corning worth $245,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Corning by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Corning by 202.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Corning Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:GLW traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $41.99. 1,101,625 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,911,331. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.40, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 12 month low of $30.72 and a 12 month high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.57 and a 200 day moving average of $47.81.

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Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. On average, research analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Corning's payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GLW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC upgraded shares of Corning from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Corning from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

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.