Corning Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 23,495 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 51% compared to the average volume of 15,574 call options.

Institutional Trading of Corning

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GLW. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its position in shares of Corning by 806.7% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 64,965 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,524,000 after buying an additional 57,800 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Corning during the 1st quarter worth $653,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Corning in the 2nd quarter worth about $511,000. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Corning by 40.9% in the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 312,977 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $10,316,000 after purchasing an additional 90,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Corning by 2.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,664,540 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $64,667,000 after purchasing an additional 42,818 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GLW. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Corning from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Argus raised their price target on Corning from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Corning from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Corning from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Corning has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.08.

Corning Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GLW traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.26. 4,621,301 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,729,778. The firm has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.03, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.04. Corning has a 52-week low of $26.41 and a 52-week high of $51.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. Corning had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Corning will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 157.75%.

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.