Invesco Ltd. Raises Stock Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,835,056 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 223,933 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.71% of First Solar worth $323,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FSLR. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of First Solar by 20.6% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,177 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,446 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $5,350,000 after buying an additional 5,780 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Solar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $913,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in First Solar by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 30,867 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $7,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of FSLR stock traded down $2.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $128.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,164,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,730,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48. The stock's 50 day moving average is $139.20 and its 200 day moving average is $174.76. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.56 and a twelve month high of $306.77.

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First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total transaction of $50,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 17,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,353,197.50. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,589,129.27. This trade represents a 17.24 % 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. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FSLR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $260.00) on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded First Solar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on First Solar from $236.00 to $204.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on First Solar from $297.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, First Solar has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.63.

About First Solar

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.