Maverick Capital Ltd. Takes $50.92 Million Position in Corning Incorporated $GLW

Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 374,507 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $50,922,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter worth about $921,435,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,890,802 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,478,959,000 after buying an additional 5,831,873 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its position in Corning by 141.2% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 4,011,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $329,035,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,125 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Corning by 102.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,562,644 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $399,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. purchased a new position in Corning in the 4th quarter worth approximately $185,312,000. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on shares of Corning in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Corning from $223.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Corning from $125.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Corning from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP John Z. Zhang sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.34, for a total value of $1,983,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,019,070.92. The trade was a 66.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Wendell P. Weeks sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.46, for a total value of $18,646,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 908,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,371,500.38. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,655 shares of company stock valued at $30,692,560. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Corning Trading Down 2.5%

GLW opened at $142.94 on Tuesday. Corning Incorporated has a 12-month low of $54.92 and a 12-month high of $271.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.02 billion, a PE ratio of 68.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $187.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.99.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Corning had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 19.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.59%.

About Corning

Corning Incorporated is a global manufacturer specializing in specialty glass, ceramics and related materials and technologies. Headquartered in Corning, New York, the company supplies engineered materials and components used across multiple industries, including consumer electronics, telecommunications, automotive emissions control, pharmaceutical and life sciences, and industrial and scientific applications. Corning emphasizes materials science and precision manufacturing to develop durable, high-performance glass and ceramic products.

Key product lines include specialty display glass used by television and mobile-device manufacturers, cover glass marketed under well-known trade names for smartphones and tablets, and optical fiber and cable and related hardware for telecommunications networks.