KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Shares in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 44,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,519,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted 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. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,744 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 7.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AXTA shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.7 %

AXTA opened at $32.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $30.41 and a one year high of $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.54.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Axalta Coating Systems

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.