Varenne Capital Partners Sells 373,267 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Varenne Capital Partners lowered its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 82.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,388 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 373,267 shares during the quarter. International Flavors & Fragrances makes up 1.9% of Varenne Capital Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Varenne Capital Partners’ holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $6,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,218,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,554,996,000 after acquiring an additional 164,945 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 196,696 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,008,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $628,341,000 after buying an additional 77,521 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during 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 buying an additional 1,663,629 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IFF. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE IFF opened at $76.41 on Friday. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.38 and a 52 week high of $106.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 81.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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%.

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.