Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases Shares of 1,642,741 Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,642,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $56,215,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.75% of Axalta Coating Systems at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baldwin Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $703,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,098,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 181,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,199,000 after acquiring an additional 29,498 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,000,000. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 207,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,094,000 after purchasing an additional 36,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Axalta Coating Systems news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. This represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 0.6 %

AXTA stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,979,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,013,085. The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12 month low of $27.70 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The business's 50 day moving average price is $32.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.55. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. Axalta Coating Systems's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AXTA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $37.00 price target on Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.60.

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.