Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 568 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,485 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 568 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXTA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $855,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,542 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 668,654 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,198,000 after acquiring an additional 15,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,991,660 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $72,078,000 after purchasing an additional 205,085 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AXTA opened at $34.44 on Monday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $30.41 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.66. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. 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. StockNews.com lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.08.

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.