Korea Investment CORP Sells 152,060 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Korea Investment CORP cut its position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 39.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 152,060 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $19,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IFF. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in 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 valued at $464,926,000 after buying an additional 1,121,414 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 926,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $78,367,000 after buying an additional 218,792 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,102,363,000 after buying an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,037,000. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $76.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.38 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.89.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. Research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.09%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on IFF shares. Cfra cut shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Argus raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances 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.