BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 80.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,563 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 30,995 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned about 0.06% of First Solar worth $12,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of First Solar by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,450,914 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $255,709,000 after buying an additional 120,239 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of First Solar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in First Solar by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP purchased a new position in First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,373,000. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd raised its stake in First Solar by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 25,000 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $4,406,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $50,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 17,594 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,197.50. This represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.60, for a total transaction of $1,021,085.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,549 shares of the company's stock, valued at $484,793.40. This trade represents a 67.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,311 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,158 over the last ninety days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Solar Stock Up 0.0%

FSLR stock traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $155.74. 833,024 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,060,646. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $139.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.14. First Solar, Inc. has a one year low of $116.56 and a one year high of $306.77. The company has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSLR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of First Solar in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on First Solar from $254.00 to $236.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp cut shares of First Solar from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of First Solar from $253.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $265.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Solar has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.37.

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.