Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 7,833 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 41.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,973 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,833 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Corteva were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Corteva by 14.6% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 11,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Corteva by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Corteva by 1.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 233,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,949,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 7.0% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 3.7% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 141,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,250,000 after acquiring an additional 5,035 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of CTVA stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $57.29. 552,165 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,531,785. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $55.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.74. Corteva, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.22 and a fifty-two week high of $58.81.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. Corteva had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 3.32%. The company had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Corteva’s payout ratio is 81.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTVA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Corteva from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price target (down from $58.00) on shares of Corteva in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Corteva from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.24.

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.