MetLife Investment Management LLC Buys 402,552 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 327.5% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.24% of the company, worth about $17.4 million.
• Insider trading activities revealed that SVP Amy Tufano sold 3,194 shares at an average price of $31.06, resulting in a 20.90% decrease in her position.
• Axalta Coating Systems reported earnings of $0.64 per share, beating estimates, but experienced a 3.4% decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 327.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 525,469 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 402,552 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.24% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $17,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 3,005.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 76,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,549,000 after buying an additional 74,380 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 502,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,654,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems during the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Axalta Coating Systems in the 1st quarter worth $572,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 12.1% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 8,412 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Amy Tufano sold 3,194 shares of the business's 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 12,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,422.22. The trade was a 20.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $34.00 target price (down from $35.00) on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.71.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 1.5%

AXTA stock traded down $0.47 on Thursday, reaching $30.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,482,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,422,788. The firm has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.77. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.12.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The business 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%. The company'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 earned $0.57 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.450-2.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.630-0.670 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

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.