International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Purchased by Dodge & Cox

Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,437,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,355,381 shares during the period. International Flavors & Fragrances comprises about 1.5% of Dodge & Cox's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Dodge & Cox owned about 12.30% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $2,658,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 164,945 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% during the 4th 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 grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter valued at about $452,363,000. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, Director Kevin O'byrne bought 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IFF. Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America cut 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.69.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF stock traded up $2.27 on Friday, hitting $73.33. The company had a trading volume of 3,005,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,525,777. The firm has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.85 and a twelve month high of $106.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.47. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is presently 170.21%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company 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.