Traders Buy High Volume of International Flavors & Fragrances Call Options (NYSE:IFF)

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 6,394 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 846% compared to the typical volume of 676 call options.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE IFF traded down $0.40 on Monday, reaching $85.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,081,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,302,125. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company's fifty day moving average is $85.25 and its 200 day moving average is $93.89. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 52-week low of $72.94 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake 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 worth $2,658,063,000 after buying an additional 3,355,381 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $2,554,996,000 after acquiring an additional 164,945 shares during the period. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at $2,143,882,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $520,032,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on IFF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $117.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Argus raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.77.

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.