Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,691 shares of the company’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Corteva were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new position in Corteva during the third quarter worth approximately $697,000. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Corteva by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 342,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,546,000 after buying an additional 147,459 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Corteva by 17.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Corteva by 8.0% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Corteva by 7.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 72,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,707,000 after acquiring an additional 5,216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 12,134 shares of Corteva stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.65, for a total value of $687,391.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,491.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CTVA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Corteva from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TheStreet upgraded Corteva from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Corteva from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.24.

Corteva Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:CTVA opened at $57.83 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.22 and a 12-month high of $58.81.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Corteva had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 6.68%. Corteva’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Corteva’s payout ratio is currently 81.01%.

About Corteva

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.