OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Boosts Stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 53.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,802 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,905 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in First Solar were worth $3,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in First Solar by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 171,846 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $30,286,000 after buying an additional 11,781 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in First Solar by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,990 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,994,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in First Solar by 2,577.6% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 106,595 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $18,786,000 after buying an additional 102,614 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC grew its holdings in First Solar by 961.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 646,310 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $113,906,000 after buying an additional 585,394 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in First Solar by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,572 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FSLR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on First Solar from $240.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on First Solar from $297.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on First Solar from $273.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on First Solar from $360.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on First Solar in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Solar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.08.

First Solar Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ FSLR opened at $129.34 on Thursday. First Solar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.96 and a 12 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 company has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $158.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.31.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,793.40. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,311 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,158 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.