Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires 305,000 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 17.2%, now holding approximately 2,075,000 shares valued at $68.8 million.
• Several institutional investors, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc., also raised their stakes in the company, leading to 98.28% of Axalta's stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Axalta Coating Systems has seen a decrease in its analyst ratings, including a downgrade from BMO Capital Markets and a lowered target price from Morgan Stanley, which now stands at $36.00.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,075,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 305,000 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.95% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $68,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,637,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $386,000,000 after purchasing an additional 356,143 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 29.8% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,250,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $240,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,261 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,730,406 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $223,248,000 after purchasing an additional 132,234 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,140,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $137,344,000 after purchasing an additional 266,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,913,488 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $129,810,000 after purchasing an additional 520,844 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.71.

Insider Transactions at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, SVP Amy Tufano sold 3,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction of $99,205.64. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $375,422.22. This represents a 20.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AXTA traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.78. 2,552,891 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,391,272. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.14 and a 200-day moving average of $31.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.28.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 25.32%. Axalta Coating Systems's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.450-2.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.630-0.670 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 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.