BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $12.26 Million Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) by 80.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,563 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 30,995 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned about 0.06% of First Solar worth $12,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FSLR. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in First Solar by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 645 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in First Solar by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,844 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its position in First Solar by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,874 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in First Solar by 92.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 64,339 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $11,339,000 after purchasing an additional 30,969 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 125.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 3,618 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,589,129.27. This represents a 17.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,549 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,311 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,158. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

First Solar Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ FSLR traded down $2.51 on Tuesday, hitting $155.87. 3,011,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,068,546. The company's 50-day moving average price is $138.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.18. The company has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.56 and a 52-week 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.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.55). First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The business had revenue of $844.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSLR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $223.00 price objective on shares of First Solar and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of First Solar from $275.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of First Solar in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of First Solar from $253.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.