Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,321,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 988,397 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 5.19% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $387,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 33.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 2,898 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 41.5% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 5,667 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,605 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 64.4% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 24,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter worth $855,000. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE AXTA opened at $34.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.70. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $30.41 and a one year high of $41.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.