Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 2,693 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 14,961.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ETF Managers Group LLC grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 29,366 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $889,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 12,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 51,583 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 11,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 11,804 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Monday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.24.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXTA opened at $27.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12 month low of $20.66 and a 12 month high of $33.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.45. The stock has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.45.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 21.28%. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Chris Villavarayan bought 33,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.67 per share, with a total value of $1,000,175.70. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,010.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Chris Villavarayan bought 33,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.67 per share, with a total value of $1,000,175.70. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,010.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 17,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $501,395.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,949.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings. The company offers water and solvent-borne products and systems to repair damaged vehicles for independent body shops, multi-shop operators, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dealership body shops.