Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF)

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 6,394 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 846% compared to the average volume of 676 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on IFF shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Vertical Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $107.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF traded up $0.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $85.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 153,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,338,168. The firm has a market cap of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.19. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 12 month low of $72.94 and a 12 month high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $85.38 and a 200-day moving average of $94.12.

Institutional Trading of International Flavors & Fragrances

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% 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.