Insider Selling: First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Sells 9,557 Shares of Stock

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 9,557 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.05, for a total value of $1,481,812.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 8,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,246,136.85. The trade was a 54.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Markus Gloeckler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Markus Gloeckler sold 380 shares of First Solar stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total transaction of $50,825.00.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of FSLR stock traded up $3.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.28. 5,254,911 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,050,574. First Solar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.56 and a 12 month high of $306.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $863.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Solar by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,200,342 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $1,668,919,000 after purchasing an additional 378,641 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in First Solar by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,765,303 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $349,617,000 after purchasing an additional 405,457 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Solar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,666,242 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $469,154,000 after acquiring an additional 63,739 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of First Solar by 32.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,427,500 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $306,909,000 after acquiring an additional 592,444 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of First Solar by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,805,244 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $336,871,000 after acquiring an additional 426,797 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSLR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $157.00 price target (up previously from $127.00) on shares of First Solar in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of First Solar from $223.00 to $217.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp lowered shares of First Solar from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of First Solar from $191.00 to $177.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of First Solar from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.37.

First Solar Company 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.