State of Michigan Retirement System Has $10.62 Million Stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTVA. State Street Corp raised its stake in Corteva by 2.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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. raised its position in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 200,917 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Corteva by 1.9% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Corteva

In related news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corteva Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE CTVA opened at $61.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.44. The stock has a market cap of $41.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79. Corteva, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.01 and a 52-week 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.

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

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

Corteva Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on CTVA shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BNP Paribas raised Corteva to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.79.

Corteva 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.