Blue Trust Inc. Sells 1,337 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Blue Trust Inc. cut its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 40.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,992 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,337 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% during the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,008,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $628,341,000 after purchasing an additional 77,521 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $478,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,629 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $464,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,498,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $157,271,000 after acquiring an additional 16,590 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on IFF shares. Vertical Research upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Cfra downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.50.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $80.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.36, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.19. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a one year low of $72.94 and a one year high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.14. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.64% and a net margin of 2.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.