American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 130,427 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 57.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 356,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 130,427 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.16% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $12,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXTA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,744 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Optas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 6,024 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $33.40 on Wednesday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12 month low of $30.41 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.56.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.