Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $1.34 Million Stock Position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,287 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 11,636 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXTA. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 156.4% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,238 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company's stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 1.7%

AXTA stock traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.31. 1,996,782 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,025,796. The firm's 50-day moving average is $32.24 and its 200-day moving average is $35.36. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12 month low of $27.70 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The company has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXTA. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.38.

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.