Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR)

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 53,757 call options on the company. This is an increase of 63% compared to the typical volume of 32,954 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 599 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total transaction of $80,116.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,114,648.75. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.60, for a total transaction of $1,021,085.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,793.40. This represents a 67.81% 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 valued at $4,767,158. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Solar

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Solar by 3.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,200,342 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $1,668,919,000 after acquiring an additional 378,641 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $469,154,000 after acquiring an additional 63,739 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in First Solar by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,359,846 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 262,482 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in First Solar by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,835,056 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $323,410,000 after acquiring an additional 223,933 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in First Solar by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,805,244 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $336,871,000 after purchasing an additional 426,797 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FSLR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $265.00 price target on First Solar in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer lowered First Solar from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised First Solar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $223.00 price objective on First Solar and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of First Solar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $218.00 to $259.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.87.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR traded up $11.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $152.33. The company had a trading volume of 4,634,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,905,921. First Solar has a 52-week low of $116.56 and a 52-week high of $306.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company's 50 day moving average price is $130.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.55. The stock has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $844.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Solar will post 13.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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