Corning Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 67,678 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 385% compared to the average daily volume of 13,955 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. HSBC raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Activity

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corning

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,139,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Corning by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Corning by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 2,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Corning by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal grew its holdings in Corning by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Corning Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $46.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.43. Corning has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week high of $55.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.79, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. On average, analysts anticipate that Corning will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.