Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Acquires 5,065 Shares of Corteva, Inc. $CTVA

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its stake in Corteva, Inc. by 30.6%, acquiring an additional 5,065 shares to reach a total of 21,628 shares valued at approximately $1.36 million.
• Analysts have given Corteva a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price averaging $80.25, reflecting positive outlooks from various research firms.
• Corteva has recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.18, representing a 1.0% yield, set to be paid on September 15th.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 30.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,628 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,065 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Corteva were worth $1,361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Corteva in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Corteva by 85.9% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Corteva in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Corteva in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 4,444.4% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 818 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total transaction of $2,766,176.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CTVA. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Corteva in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Corteva in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Oppenheimer set a $87.00 price objective on Corteva and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.25.

Corteva Stock Performance

CTVA traded up $2.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.07. 6,598,066 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,369,057. Corteva, Inc. has a one year low of $53.40 and a one year high of $77.41. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.03 and its 200 day moving average is $68.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $50.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.78.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.31. Corteva had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.12%.

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.