Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $1.86 Million Holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,459 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Corteva were worth $1,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Corteva by 2.3% during the 3rd 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 increased 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 acquiring an additional 355,206 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 856,007 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 200,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 203,126 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $1,692,934.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This represents a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CTVA shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.79.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of CTVA opened at $60.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.01 and a twelve month high of $66.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.40 and a 200-day moving average of $59.38. 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 (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share 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 research analysts forecast that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s payout ratio is presently 52.71%.

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.