International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Sold by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,785 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of IFF. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,143,882,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at about $452,363,000. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 31,437,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,658,063,000 after purchasing an additional 3,355,381 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,407,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $288,084,000 after purchasing an additional 565,769 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE IFF opened at $76.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.08. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.85 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.19.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -48.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IFF. Mizuho lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, CEO J Erik Fyrwald bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.00 per share, with a total value of $51,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,794,980. The trade was a 1.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.