International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Stake Cut by Fosun International Ltd

Fosun International Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 61.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,868 shares during the quarter. Fosun International Ltd's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of IFF stock opened at $73.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.39 and a 200-day moving average of $83.69. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.85 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The stock has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.08.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. International Flavors & Fragrances's payout ratio is presently -48.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on IFF shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $106.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cfra downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $104.00 to $89.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin O'byrne purchased 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO J Erik Fyrwald acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $74.00 per share, with a total value of $51,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 37,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,794,980. This represents a 1.89 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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