Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $3.28 Million Stock Holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 95.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,172,513 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $3,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Corteva by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,437,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,524,648,000 after buying an additional 678,722 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,236,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $634,293,000 after purchasing an additional 2,141,428 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,815,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,133,000 after purchasing an additional 310,012 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,145,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,409,000 after purchasing an additional 617,030 shares during the period. Finally, Harris Associates L P lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 9,011,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,194,981 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTVA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, April 12th. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, June 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Corteva in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

Insider Transactions at Corteva

In other news, insider Samuel R. Eathington sold 31,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.64, for a total value of $1,826,381.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,854 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,144.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Samuel R. Eathington sold 31,686 shares of Corteva stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.64, for a total transaction of $1,826,381.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,854 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,144.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 $764,491.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,556 shares of company stock worth $4,795,016 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Corteva Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CTVA traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.17. 830,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,387,549. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.22 and a 52 week high of $58.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.81. The company has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.29, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.77.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. Corteva had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is a boost from Corteva’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.01%.

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.