First Merchants Corp Cuts Stake in Corteva, Inc. $CTVA

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp has reduced its stake in Corteva, Inc. by 71.7%, owning 27,575 shares after selling 69,855 shares in the second quarter, as per its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Corteva, with Brighton Jones LLC leading with a 307.2% boost in the last quarter.
• Corteva recently **increased its quarterly dividend** to $0.18 per share, up from $0.17, representing an annual yield of 1.1%.

First Merchants Corp decreased its holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 71.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,575 shares of the company's stock after selling 69,855 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Corteva were worth $2,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CTVA. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 307.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 11,760 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 11,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Corteva by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CTVA. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $84.00 price target on shares of Corteva in a report on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Corteva from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Corteva from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.13.

Corteva Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of NYSE CTVA opened at $63.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Corteva, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.40 and a 12 month high of $77.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.90.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.31. Corteva had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Corteva's payout ratio is currently 35.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corteva

In other news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $2,766,176.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,655,240.40. This represents a 43.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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