Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,345 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $3,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTA. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,733,703 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $93,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,434 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 716.6% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,224,961 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,961 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,257,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,914,764 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $99,597,000 after purchasing an additional 475,493 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 126.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 794,454 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,817,000 after purchasing an additional 443,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXTA. Citigroup downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXTA opened at $36.28 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.25. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52-week low of $30.40 and a 52-week high of $41.65. The company has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.15 EPS for the current 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.