Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 17,400 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 43.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,050 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 17,400 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Corning in the third quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Corning in the third quarter worth $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Corning by 232.9% in the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 932 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Emfo LLC acquired a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 69.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Lawrence D. Mcrae sold 77,464 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.24, for a total value of $2,574,903.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 215,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,155,042.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GLW shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Corning from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Corning in a report on Monday, April 1st. HSBC lowered shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Corning from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Corning from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.78.

Corning Stock Down 0.1 %

Corning stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,689,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,969,842. The company has a market capitalization of $26.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. Corning Incorporated has a 12 month low of $25.26 and a 12 month high of $36.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Corning had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 167.16%.

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.