Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stock Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,867 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ingredion by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 12,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after buying an additional 5,855 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ingredion during the third quarter worth $221,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Ingredion by 3.0% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 28,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ingredion by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,862,000 after purchasing an additional 19,560 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 110,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,219,000 after purchasing an additional 27,948 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Down 4.2 %

Ingredion stock opened at $130.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.47. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1-year low of $109.51 and a 1-year high of $155.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INGR has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.20.

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients, and biomaterial solutions derived from wet milling and processing corn, and other starch-based materials to a range of industries in North America, South America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.