Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 572,539 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 9,466 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.26% of Axalta Coating Systems worth $19,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTA. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,321,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $387,439,000 after buying an additional 988,397 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,822,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $246,923,000 after acquiring an additional 46,813 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% in the third 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. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 4.2% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 2,096,790 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $75,883,000 after purchasing an additional 84,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,620,459 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $55,452,000 after purchasing an additional 423,883 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.28% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut Axalta Coating Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.08.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXTA traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,830,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,933,303. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 52 week low of $30.41 and a 52 week high of $41.66. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Axalta Coating Systems

In other 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently 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.