Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Corning (NYSE:GLW) Stock

Corning (NYSE:GLW) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Bank of America from $65.00 to $68.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the electronics maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 39.75% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on GLW. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Corning has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.31.

Corning Trading Down 0.2 %

GLW stock opened at $48.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.63. Corning has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a PE ratio of 83.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Corning will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Corning

In related news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corning

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Corning by 258.4% in the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,883,000 after purchasing an additional 89,268 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Corning by 48.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,975,000 after purchasing an additional 62,514 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Corning by 52.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $168,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Corning by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in Corning by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $6,565,000 after purchasing an additional 29,790 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.