Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Holdings in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. $AXTA

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) by 41.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 35,979 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXTA. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,386 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.7% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 61,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Axalta Coating Systems by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 52,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 4.2% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,478 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 7.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,317 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AXTA shares. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.56.

Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXTA opened at $33.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.29. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1-year low of $26.28 and a 1-year high of $38.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.23.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 8.81%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

About Axalta Coating Systems

Axalta Coating Systems is a global leader in the development, manufacture and sale of liquid and powder coatings. The company’s product portfolio spans refinish coatings for the automotive collision repair market, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coatings for new vehicle production, and industrial coatings including electrodeposition (E-coat) and powder coatings for a variety of sectors such as architecture, heavy equipment and general industrial applications.

Tracing its roots to the 19th century and rebranded as Axalta following its separation from DuPont Performance Coatings in 2013, the company has built a presence in more than 100 countries.