Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 510,362 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 7,250 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $42,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Grantvest Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth approximately $351,000. Walnut Level Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth $559,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,554,996,000 after purchasing an additional 164,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at $7,189,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IFF. Bank of America decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $76.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $82.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.89. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a one year low of $76.38 and a one year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 81.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.14. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.