Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys 1,365 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 156.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,238 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PointState Capital LP bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter worth about $30,257,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 151.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,909,000 after acquiring an additional 381,488 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 198.6% during the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 380,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,774,000 after acquiring an additional 253,142 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 55.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 621,376 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,488,000 after acquiring an additional 221,943 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 11.5% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,991,660 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $72,078,000 after acquiring an additional 205,085 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXTA shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.08.

Insider Activity at Axalta Coating Systems

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 shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Up 3.2 %

AXTA opened at $35.39 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.95 and its 200-day moving average is $36.69. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1-year low of $30.41 and a 1-year high of $41.65. 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 cap of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last posted its quarterly 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. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axalta Coating Systems 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.