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

Ariel Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,406,964 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 68,923 shares during the quarter. Axalta Coating Systems comprises 1.6% of Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 2.00% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $150,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXTA. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 342,669 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,640,000 after purchasing an additional 36,395 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association raised its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 16,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,334,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 12,022.2% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AXTA shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of AXTA stock opened at $35.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $25.03 and a 12-month high of $37.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.49. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.44.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.28% and a net margin of 5.69%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.