Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 218.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 446,799 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 306,581 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.42% of First Solar worth $78,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. City Holding Co. boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 1,666 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 15.8% during the 4th 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 period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,844 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In related news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $3,039,360.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,589,129.27. The trade was a 17.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 dated 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of First Solar from $237.00 to $214.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho upgraded shares of First Solar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $218.00 to $259.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of First Solar in a report on Monday, March 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of First Solar from $267.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of First Solar from $236.00 to $204.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.30.

First Solar Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ FSLR opened at $167.22 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $17.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46. First Solar, Inc. has a one year low of $116.56 and a one year high of $306.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $136.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.67.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $844.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.11 million. First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. Analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current 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.