Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $3 Million Stock Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 629 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $2,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,102,363,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,008,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $628,341,000 after buying an additional 77,521 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,029,773 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,717,000 after acquiring an additional 22,991 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IFF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cfra downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of IFF stock opened at $76.90 on Wednesday. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.60 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.81, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $82.99 and its 200-day moving average is $90.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.21%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company 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.