Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 1,936,025 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 97.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,936,025 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% during 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 buying an additional 31,894 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 68.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 36,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 14,704 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 32,135 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 85.3% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 438,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,862,000 after purchasing an additional 201,766 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AXTA. Citigroup cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 2.2 %

AXTA stock opened at $37.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.44. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $30.40 and a fifty-two week high of $41.65.

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 company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.