Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 34.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,135,669 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 3,732,163 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 3.22% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $242,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXTA. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 1,856.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,866,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $199,288,000 after buying an additional 5,566,757 shares during the last quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,346,000. Kinetic Partners Management LP acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,603,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 11.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,470,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $362,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,723 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 485.0% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,584,488 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $42,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,625 shares during the period. 98.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXTA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axalta Coating Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Up 1.0 %

AXTA traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $36.55. 2,724,052 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,141,348. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1-year low of $25.03 and a 1-year high of $36.56. The stock's 50-day moving average is $33.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.39. The stock has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.08. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 21.82%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.