Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 95,795 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 95,795 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,099,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IFF. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $478,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 926,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $78,367,000 after purchasing an additional 218,792 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter worth $19,813,000. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Flavors & Fragrances

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. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.50.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $79.76 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.59. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.91 and a twelve month high of $106.77. The firm has a market cap of $20.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 170.21%.

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.