Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Sold by Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC

Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 197,801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,405 shares during the quarter. Axalta Coating Systems makes up 1.6% of Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $6,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,321,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,439,000 after acquiring an additional 988,397 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,280,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $386,032,000 after buying an additional 50,520 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,598,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $225,789,000 after buying an additional 82,200 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,587,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $191,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,874,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $132,568,000 after purchasing an additional 93,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXTA. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $37.00 price objective on Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.36.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

AXTA stock opened at $32.27 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.39 and its 200 day moving average is $35.87. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52 week low of $27.70 and a 52 week high of $41.66. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems 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.