The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,016 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 9,883 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.10% of First Solar worth $13,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in First Solar by 160.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 26,796 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 16,515 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in First Solar by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in First Solar by 71.0% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,464 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 1.8% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 50,128 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,198,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 11.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 25,804 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. 80.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FSLR. TheStreet downgraded shares of First Solar from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, October 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of First Solar from $146.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Cowen increased their target price on shares of First Solar from $167.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Friday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of First Solar from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $147.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, November 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Solar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.63.
First Solar Trading Up 4.3 %
Shares of First Solar stock opened at $175.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 3.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.19. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.60 and a 1 year high of $185.28. The stock has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a PE ratio of 199.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.31.
First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The solar cell manufacturer reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.23). First Solar had a return on equity of 1.61% and a net margin of 3.75%. The business had revenue of $629.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $747.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current year.
About First Solar
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First Solar, Inc provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United State, Japan, France, Canada, India, Australia, and internationally. The company designs, manufactures, and sells cadmium telluride solar modules that converts sunlight into electricity. It serves developers and operators of systems, utilities, independent power producers, commercial and industrial companies, and other system owners.
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