California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 46,617 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,734 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after selling 46,617 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.13% of First Solar worth $23,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in First Solar by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of First Solar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other First Solar news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,403 shares in the company, valued at $14,589,129.27. This represents a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 599 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $80,116.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,717 shares in the company, valued at $6,114,648.75. This represents a 1.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FSLR. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of First Solar from $360.00 to $285.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on First Solar from $240.00 to $209.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Solar from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on First Solar from $280.00 to $251.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of First Solar from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $260.42.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR traded down $7.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $128.69. 4,687,136 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,687,829. The company has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.60 and a 52-week high of $306.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $145.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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