Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 77,955 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 91.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 77,955 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 50.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 22,872 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the period. Shelton Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AXTA. Mizuho set a $37.00 target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.38.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Axalta Coating Systems stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.63. 350,374 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,020,661. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $32.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $27.70 and a one year high of $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The business's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share 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.