Graham Capital Management L.P. Reduces Stock Holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Graham Capital Management L.P. cut its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 80,304 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $3,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXTA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,850,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,980,296 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,215,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 144.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,950,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,321,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,439,000 after purchasing an additional 988,397 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

NYSE AXTA opened at $31.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.55. The company has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $27.70 and a 1 year high of $41.66. 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 (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Axalta Coating Systems from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised 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 report on Friday, January 17th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Insider Transactions at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.