Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Buys 47,900 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 47,900 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.11% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $24,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% in 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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 164,945 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 worth $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake 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 valued at $464,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, Director Kevin O'byrne bought 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of IFF stock traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,182,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,534,058. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.85 and a 52 week high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $77.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.15. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 82.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut 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. Mizuho reduced their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Cfra downgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.54.

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.