Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 198,551 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,763,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 198,551 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.81% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $60,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXTA. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,589,000 after acquiring an additional 51,748 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $117,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 52,330 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 5,988 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 62.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 138,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,097,000 after purchasing an additional 53,222 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $31.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.18 and a 200 day moving average of $35.79. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12 month low of $27.70 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33. 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 (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AXTA shares. 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 research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho set a $37.00 price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of 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, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.36.

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.