LPL Financial LLC Sells 37,390 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC significantly reduced its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 45.4%, holding 44,990 shares valued at approximately $1.49 million after selling 37,390 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Financial Management Professionals Inc. and Golden State Wealth Management LLC, have increased their stakes in Axalta, reflecting varied confidence in the company's future.
• Recent earnings results showed Axalta Coating Systems reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates, but with a year-over-year revenue decline of 3.4%.

LPL Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 45.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,990 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 37,390 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTA. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 61,721 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,273 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 57.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 8,861 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the first quarter worth about $511,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 4.9% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 118,578 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,933,000 after acquiring an additional 5,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the first quarter valued at about $392,000. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AXTA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Axalta Coating Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.71.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXTA traded up $1.0460 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.8160. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,850,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,166,777. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $41.65. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axalta Coating Systems

In other news, SVP Amy Tufano sold 3,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $99,205.64. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.