Centiva Capital LP Cuts Stock Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Centiva Capital LP lessened its holdings in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 62.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,889 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after selling 9,686 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in First Solar were worth $1,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of First Solar by 81,947.0% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,669,757 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $1,729,223,000 after buying an additional 7,660,409 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 1,757.2% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 546,193 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $136,242,000 after purchasing an additional 516,783 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of First Solar during the third quarter worth about $67,652,000. Anomaly Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in First Solar during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,752,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in First Solar by 24,844.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 217,512 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $542,560,000 after buying an additional 216,640 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FSLR shares. Hsbc Global Res raised First Solar to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of First Solar from $311.00 to $279.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of First Solar from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of First Solar from $271.00 to $266.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.71.

First Solar Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of FSLR traded down $5.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $201.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,301,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,525,337. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.88 and a twelve month high of $306.77. 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 cap of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.08.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by ($0.19). First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The company had revenue of $887.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

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.