Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Sold by Ariel Investments LLC

Ariel Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,213,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 120,876 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $144,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 50.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,589,000 after buying an additional 51,748 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $117,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 52,330 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 5,988 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 62.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 138,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,097,000 after purchasing an additional 53,222 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axalta Coating Systems

In other Axalta Coating Systems news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BNP Paribas raised Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.36.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE AXTA opened at $33.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.01. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $27.70 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.69.

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

About Axalta Coating Systems

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.