APG Asset Management N.V. Lowers Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

APG Asset Management N.V. lessened its holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 70.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,756 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after selling 149,170 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned 0.06% of First Solar worth $10,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in First Solar by 20.6% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,177 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in First Solar by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,446 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $5,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in First Solar in the 3rd quarter worth $913,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of First Solar by 8.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 30,867 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $7,699,000 after buying an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in First Solar by 11.6% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 8,995 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $2,244,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,589,129.27. The trade was a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 419 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.96, for a total value of $55,710.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,695 shares in the company, valued at $624,247.20. This trade represents a 8.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,311 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,158. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FSLR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on First Solar from $267.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of First Solar from $254.00 to $236.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded First Solar from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of First Solar from $236.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded First Solar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $218.00 to $259.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.63.

First Solar Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of FSLR stock traded down $4.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,193,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,735,674. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.56 and a 52-week high of $306.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $139.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.76. The stock has a market cap of $13.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.14.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.81 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. Research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Solar Profile

First Solar, Inc, a solar technology company, provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United States, France, Japan, Chile, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells PV solar modules with a thin film semiconductor technology that provides a lower-carbon alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV solar modules.