Xponance Inc. Sells 9,100 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Xponance Inc. lowered its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,488 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 9,100 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $3,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the third 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 boosted its holdings 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 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% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,663,629 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,029,773 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,717,000 after purchasing an additional 22,991 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of IFF stock opened at $79.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.79, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a one year low of $78.91 and a one year high of $106.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on IFF shares. Cfra cut shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Argus upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne purchased 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.