International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 66.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 19,506 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,102,363,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,008,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $628,341,000 after purchasing an additional 77,521 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,879,317 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $158,896,000 after acquiring an additional 17,372 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne purchased 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

IFF stock opened at $80.41 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.12. The stock has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.54, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.64 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.21%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc engages in the manufacture and supply of flavors and fragrances used in the food, beverage, personal care, and household products industries. It operates through the following segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent and Pharma Solutions. The Nourish segment consists of legacy Taste segment combined with N&B’s Food & Beverage division and the food protection business of N&B’s Health & Biosciences division.