Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 20,273 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 6.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 317,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 20,273 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $24,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.0% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,944 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 27.5% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares in the last quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.1% during the first quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 207,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,082,000 after buying an additional 11,877 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 49.7% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 20,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 6,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,062,075 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $315,258,000 after purchasing an additional 32,302 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on International Flavors & Fragrances in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.43.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF opened at $75.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.01, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.85 and a 1-year high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.99% and a negative net margin of 7.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -48.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, EVP Stephen N. Landsman acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $77.28 per share, with a total value of $927,360.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $927,360. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mehmood Khan acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $75.33 per share, with a total value of $301,320.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,819.32. This represents a 662.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 22,050 shares of company stock worth $1,688,512 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.