Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 2,567,200 Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,567,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,850,000. Norges Bank owned 1.18% of Axalta Coating Systems as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,481 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 18,496 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,909,000 after buying an additional 381,488 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,940 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 139.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,728 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 3,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in Axalta Coating Systems during the third quarter valued at about $326,000. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Axalta Coating Systems

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total transaction of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXTA. Citigroup lowered Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AXTA stock opened at $33.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $30.41 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.54. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 7.41%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

About Axalta Coating Systems

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.