Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Short Interest Down 22.9% in March

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,660,000 shares, a decline of 22.9% from the March 15th total of 13,830,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GLW. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. HSBC upgraded Corning from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho set a $52.00 target price on shares of Corning in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.31.

Corning Trading Up 2.7 %

GLW traded up $1.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.81. The company had a trading volume of 1,414,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,926,694. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. Corning has a 12-month low of $31.20 and a 12-month high of $55.33. The company has a market cap of $35.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.12, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $46.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.66.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Corning will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 193.10%.

Insider Activity at Corning

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corning

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Corning in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $490,933,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter worth $124,253,000. Amundi raised its holdings 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 position in Corning by 134.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,869,358 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $183,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,522,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company's stock.

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.