Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,208,795 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 322,393 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.54% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $788,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXTA. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 47.7% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 97,171 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 9,161 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 56,174 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Up 0.7 %

AXTA opened at $34.60 on Friday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $36.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.44.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 21.82% and a net margin of 4.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.23.

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.