International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Purchased by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 1,083.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,819 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 42,864 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $3,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IFF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 164,945 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,102,363,000 after buying an additional 196,696 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,166,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $520,032,000 after acquiring an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of IFF opened at $78.66 on Thursday. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.73 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The company has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a PE ratio of 83.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is 170.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on IFF. Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.