Centre Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Centre Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 124,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 9,439 shares during the period. International Flavors & Fragrances makes up approximately 2.4% of Centre Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Centre Asset Management LLC's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $10,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pictet North America Advisors SA raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.1% in the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 3,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 21,266 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on IFF. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE IFF traded down $0.57 on Friday, reaching $82.52. 1,265,895 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,363,897. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a PE ratio of -9.08, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.17. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a one year low of $72.94 and a one year high of $106.77. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $89.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.33% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.60%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic active and natural health ingredients for use in various consumer products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.