Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $2,070,000 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 stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 6,024 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AXTA opened at $37.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.50. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $30.41 and a fifty-two week high of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.46.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released 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. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Axalta Coating Systems

In related 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 transaction 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. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AXTA shares. Citigroup cut 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

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.