Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Stake Decreased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 369,669 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 28,717 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.17% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $12,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTA. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 60.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 156.4% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,238 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho set a $37.00 target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.36.

Insider Transactions at Axalta Coating Systems

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total transaction of $392,869.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXTA opened at $31.15 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.05. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $27.70 and a 12-month high of $41.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Axalta Coating Systems Company 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.