ING Groep NV Lowers Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV has decreased its ownership in Axalta Coating Systems by 63.3%, selling 114,000 shares to hold a total of 66,000 shares, valued at approximately $2.19 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Axalta, with Financial Management Professionals Inc. growing their position by 11,757.1% during the first quarter.
• Axalta reported $1.32 billion in revenue for the last quarter, a decrease of 3.4% year-over-year, while beating earnings per share estimates at $0.64.

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 63.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 114,000 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $2,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 54.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,587,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $191,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,296 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the first quarter worth $55,876,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems in the fourth quarter worth $56,215,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 144.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,950,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $66,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,620 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1,717.5% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 921,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,533,000 after purchasing an additional 870,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE AXTA traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.38. 1,811,626 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,294,491. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.27.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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 for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.71.

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.