Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,970 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,309 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Corteva were worth $8,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in Corteva by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,914,000 after buying an additional 768,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Corteva by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,703,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,505,000 after buying an additional 355,206 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Corteva by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,746,000 after buying an additional 856,007 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in Corteva by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 14,362,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,360,000 after buying an additional 200,917 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Corteva by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,747,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,863,000 after buying an additional 203,126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CTVA opened at $61.86 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.81. Corteva, Inc. has a one year low of $50.01 and a one year high of $66.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.95, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. On average, analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.71%.

Insider Transactions at Corteva

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $1,692,934.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares in the company, valued at $723,257.78. The trade was a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

Corteva Company Profile

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.