Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $278,000 Stock Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 80.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,232 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,605 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth about $226,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth about $9,316,000. Clearfield Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth about $28,771,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,733,402 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $140,355,000 after purchasing an additional 280,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 68,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IFF. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on International Flavors & Fragrances in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $116.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $87.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, insider Angela Strzelecki sold 2,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.66, for a total value of $247,568.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $816,840.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of IFF stock opened at $98.08 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.26. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a one year low of $62.11 and a one year high of $99.91.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 5.78% and a negative net margin of 22.01%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. On average, analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.38%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic active and natural health ingredients for use in various consumer products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.