MML Investors Services LLC Has $2.48 Million Stock Holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,435 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 4,538 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $2,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 32,135 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% during the 3rd 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. lifted its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 57.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in 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. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 50.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,589,000 after buying an additional 51,748 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded Axalta Coating Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $42.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $37.00 price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.36.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock opened at $31.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.28 and its 200 day moving average is $35.83. 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 Ltd. has a one year low of $27.70 and a one year high of $41.66.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 value of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,180.85. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.