Insider Selling: First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Sells 380 Shares of Stock

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 380 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 value of $50,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 17,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,197.50. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of First Solar stock traded down $5.69 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $127.34. The company had a trading volume of 3,015,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,556,447. First Solar, Inc. has a one year low of $124.96 and a one year high of $306.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by ($1.16). First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on FSLR shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on First Solar from $307.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on First Solar from $254.00 to $236.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on First Solar from $335.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on First Solar from $297.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on First Solar from $360.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Solar

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Solar by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,821,701 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,259,697,000 after buying an additional 120,289 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in First Solar by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,956,633 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,236,383,000 after buying an additional 108,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 63,739 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in First Solar by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,359,846 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $415,899,000 after buying an additional 262,482 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in First Solar by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,835,056 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $323,410,000 after buying an additional 223,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

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.