Shapiro Capital Management LLC Sells 678,056 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Shapiro Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,134,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 678,056 shares during the period. Axalta Coating Systems makes up 2.5% of Shapiro Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Shapiro Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $73,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $387,439,000 after purchasing an additional 988,397 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 50,520 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,598,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $225,789,000 after acquiring an additional 82,200 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,980,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $132,568,000 after acquiring an additional 93,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a 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 for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.38.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of AXTA stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.33 and its 200 day moving average is $35.48. 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 52-week low of $27.70 and a 52-week high of $41.66.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.