Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Acquired by Crestline Management LP

Crestline Management LP raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 58.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Oak Thistle LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% in the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 32,135 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $12,183,000 after acquiring an additional 130,427 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 51,748 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 62.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 138,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,097,000 after buying an additional 53,222 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AXTA shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Insider Activity at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,180.85. This 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.6 %

Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $31.08 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1-year low of $27.70 and a 1-year high of $41.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.