Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 862,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 51,213 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned 0.34% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $72,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IFF. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 615,006 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,553 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the second quarter worth $868,000. GM Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the second quarter valued at $686,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the second quarter valued at about $2,990,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter worth about $2,369,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on IFF. Bank of America upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $107.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Vertical Research upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

International Flavors & Fragrances stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.29. 529,812 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,396,114. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.22. The company has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.18. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.94 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.60%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic active and natural health ingredients for use in various consumer products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.