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

Ethic Inc. grew its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 34.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,807 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in First Solar were worth $3,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in First Solar by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 4,926 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in First Solar by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,104 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in First Solar by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,213 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $4,091,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD boosted its position in First Solar by 221.7% during the 4th quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 9,578 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 6,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH boosted its position in First Solar by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 3,300 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer downgraded First Solar from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on First Solar from $267.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on First Solar from $200.00 to $187.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded First Solar from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have 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 an average price target of $224.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.96, for a total value of $55,710.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,695 shares in the company, valued at $624,247.20. This represents a 8.19% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

First Solar Trading Up 0.7%

FSLR traded up $1.38 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $192.98. 8,539,386 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,031,776. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.56 and a 1 year high of $306.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.45. The firm has a market cap of $20.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.14.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.55). The firm had revenue of $844.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.11 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The business's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 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.