State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 2,000 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,510 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Corteva were worth $10,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,914,000 after purchasing an additional 768,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. increased 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 in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in Corteva by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 14,362,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,360,000 after buying an additional 200,917 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Corteva by 1.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,747,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,863,000 after acquiring an additional 203,126 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CTVA. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp lifted 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, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $1,692,934.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,257.78. The trade was a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Stock Performance

CTVA stock opened at $61.17 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.52 and a 200-day moving average of $59.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $66.24. The firm has a market cap of $41.94 billion, a PE ratio of 47.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Corteva’s payout ratio is presently 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.