Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,455 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXTA. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems in the third quarter valued at $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 35.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 60.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price 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. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axalta Coating Systems news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

NYSE:AXTA opened at $34.44 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.99 and a 200-day moving average of $36.62. The firm has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a twelve month low of $30.41 and a twelve month high of $41.66.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share 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.