Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Lowers Stock Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 388,321 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 19,911 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $13,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 60.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axalta Coating Systems news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,180.85. This trade represents 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 company insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $32.87 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $30.41 and a 12-month high of $41.66. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXTA has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

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.