Corning Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 42,502 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 293% compared to the average daily volume of 10,810 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.31.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GLW opened at $53.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.18 and a 200 day moving average of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $46.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 317.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.04. Corning has a 52 week low of $30.31 and a 52 week high of $54.53.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. Corning had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Corning will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total value of $435,722.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.39, for a total transaction of $241,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $324,213. This represents a 42.74 % 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.

Institutional Trading of Corning

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Corning by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 39,225,452 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,771,029,000 after purchasing an additional 133,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Corning by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,983,090 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,534,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,718 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Corning by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,853,076 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $219,116,000 after purchasing an additional 38,168 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Corning by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $168,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Corning by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,810,435 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $126,893,000 after purchasing an additional 52,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.