Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) is Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,392,644 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 649,135 shares during the quarter. Axalta Coating Systems comprises about 4.0% of Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $116,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AXTA. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,669,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $132,823,000 after purchasing an additional 31,894 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% during the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 32,135 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 445,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,135,000 after purchasing an additional 24,402 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 356,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,183,000 after acquiring an additional 130,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $31.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a twelve month low of $27.70 and a twelve month high of $41.66. The stock has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.73 and its 200 day moving average is $36.25.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.92.

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.