Altshuler Shaham Ltd Makes New $555,000 Investment in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,222 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,040,031 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,945,549,000 after purchasing an additional 279,424 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,283,705 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $369,024,000 after purchasing an additional 211,755 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,102,959 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $339,817,000 after purchasing an additional 181,034 shares during the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP raised its stake in First Solar by 948.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 1,186,646 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $191,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in First Solar by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,003,771 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $162,199,000 after acquiring an additional 74,431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other First Solar news, Director R Craig Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.73, for a total value of $393,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,908 shares in the company, valued at $2,736,120.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other First Solar news, Director R Craig Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.73, for a total value of $393,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,908 shares in the company, valued at $2,736,120.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total transaction of $37,085.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,663,000 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FSLR. Evercore ISI upgraded First Solar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $227.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on First Solar from $209.50 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Guggenheim cut their price target on First Solar from $359.00 to $356.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho increased their price target on First Solar from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on First Solar from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.16.

First Solar Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ FSLR traded up $2.89 on Thursday, reaching $193.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,230,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,929. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Solar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $232.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $169.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.14.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $794.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.19 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 28.75%. First Solar’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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.