Norges Bank Makes New $87.85 Million Investment in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,567,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $87,850,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.18% of Axalta Coating Systems as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,669,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $132,823,000 after acquiring an additional 31,894 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 32,135 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 445,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,135,000 after purchasing an additional 24,402 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 356,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,183,000 after purchasing an additional 130,427 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AXTA shares. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup cut Axalta Coating Systems from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AXTA traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $29.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,857,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,009,600. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $28.34 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.26 and a 200 day moving average of $36.42. The company has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. Axalta Coating Systems's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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.