JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 3.2%, acquiring an additional 356,143 shares recently, bringing its total ownership to approximately 11.6 million shares valued at $386 million.
• Axalta reported a quarterly revenue of $1.32 billion with an earnings per share of $0.64, surpassing expectations, although revenue saw a 3.4% year-over-year decline.
• Stock analysts have revised their price targets for Axalta, with Morgan Stanley setting a target of $36 and BMO Capital Markets reducing it to $33, reflecting a shift in market sentiment.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,637,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 356,143 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 5.32% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $386,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXTA. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 265,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $9,078,000 after acquiring an additional 19,692 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 442,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $15,139,000 after purchasing an additional 10,802 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 374,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the fourth quarter worth $7,127,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE AXTA traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,771,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,203,483. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.10. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $41.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.27.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 25.32%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXTA. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 price objective (down from $35.00) on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Friday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $51.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.71.

Axalta Coating Systems Company 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.