Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,682 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,713 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,669,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $132,823,000 after buying an additional 31,894 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 32,135 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 445,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,135,000 after purchasing an additional 24,402 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 356,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,183,000 after purchasing an additional 130,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 5.8 %

NYSE AXTA opened at $29.73 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.47. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $41.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total transaction of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AXTA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Axalta Coating Systems Profile

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-performance coatings systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings.