International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF) has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment in recent months.
If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at present, we at Insider Monkey look at the aristocrats of this group, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees the majority of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by tracking their top equity investments, we have brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (check out a sample of our picks).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the key action surrounding International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF).
How are hedge funds trading International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF)?
At year’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 21% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the biggest position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF), worth close to $81 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors, with a $65 million position; 2.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Larry Foley and Paul Farrell’s Bronson Point Partners and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Bronson Point Partners, managed by Larry Foley and Paul Farrell, established the most outsized position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF). Bronson Point Partners had 22 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Catapult Capital Management also made a $2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Dwight Anderson’s Ospraie Management, Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
How are insiders trading International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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