State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXTA. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,822,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $246,923,000 after acquiring an additional 46,813 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,669,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $132,823,000 after purchasing an additional 31,894 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 4.2% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 2,096,790 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $75,883,000 after purchasing an additional 84,594 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 11.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,991,660 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $72,078,000 after purchasing an additional 205,085 shares during the period. Finally, PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Axalta Coating Systems

In related 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 transaction 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 approximately $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AXTA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. 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 research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AXTA opened at $34.97 on Friday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52-week low of $30.41 and a 52-week high of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45.

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 firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.