First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) Holdings Lifted by Essex Investment Management Co. LLC

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 7,902.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,122 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 7,033 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings in First Solar were worth $1,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in First Solar by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,859 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in First Solar by 665.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,192 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $7,308,000 after purchasing an additional 34,074 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 36.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,446 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $5,350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,780 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,240,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 595,267 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $104,910,000 after purchasing an additional 49,074 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,589,129.27. This represents a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.60, for a total value of $1,021,085.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,549 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $484,793.40. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,739 shares of company stock worth $4,289,403 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on FSLR shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on First Solar from $335.00 to $304.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded First Solar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America cut their price objective on First Solar from $246.00 to $236.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded First Solar from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on First Solar from $307.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $262.08.

First Solar Stock Performance

FSLR traded down $3.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $136.04. 2,133,550 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,750,801. The stock has a market cap of $14.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $164.63 and a 200 day moving average of $192.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. First Solar, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.96 and a 52 week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.81 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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.