Traders Purchase Large Volume of Corning Call Options (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 26,415 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 96% compared to the typical volume of 13,497 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on GLW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Corning Stock Performance

GLW stock opened at $49.99 on Thursday. Corning has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $55.33. The firm has a market cap of $42.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.19, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.01. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that Corning will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Corning’s payout ratio is 193.10%.

Insider Activity at Corning

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,139,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Corning by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 2,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Corning by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its position in Corning by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.