International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Position Reduced by Solstein Capital LLC

Solstein Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,195 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Solstein Capital LLC’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,218,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,554,996,000 after buying an additional 164,945 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $1,102,363,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,166,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $520,032,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in 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 valued at $464,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 4.5 %

NYSE IFF opened at $73.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.82 and a 1-year high of $106.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a PE ratio of 77.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IFF has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.31.

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.