Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 14,741 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,182,434 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,741 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.81% of Ingredion worth $162,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 205,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,298,000 after acquiring an additional 11,422 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 115,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,836,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 38,117 shares of the company's stock worth $5,243,000 after purchasing an additional 9,323 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 67,881 shares of the company's stock worth $9,338,000 after buying an additional 24,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Ingredion by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,210 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This trade represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (down from $165.00) on shares of Ingredion in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $152.60.

Ingredion Stock Performance

INGR stock traded up $2.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $129.88. 490,496 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 459,258. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $109.51 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $130.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.72.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.96%.

Ingredion Profile

Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients, and biomaterial solutions derived from wet milling and processing corn, and other starch-based materials to a range of industries in North America, South America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.