International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 41.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,629 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 9,073 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 31,437,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,658,063,000 after buying an additional 3,355,381 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,218,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,554,996,000 after buying an additional 164,945 shares during the period. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth about $2,143,882,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth about $452,363,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $104.00 to $89.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.43.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

International Flavors & Fragrances stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.61. 752,833 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,534,756. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.62. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.85 and a 12 month high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 7.31% and a positive return on equity of 7.99%. The firm's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is currently -48.93%.

Insider Activity

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, EVP Stephen N. Landsman bought 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.28 per share, for a total transaction of $927,360.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 12,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $927,360. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin O'byrne bought 4,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.05 per share, with a total value of $342,225.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $585,280.80. This represents a 140.80% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 22,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,688,512. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.