First Solar, Inc. $FSLR Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 597,970 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 24,830 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in First Solar were worth $156,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Joule Financial LLC acquired a new stake in First Solar in the third quarter valued at about $950,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in First Solar by 22.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,155 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,015,000 after purchasing an additional 13,904 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Solar in the third quarter valued at about $1,193,000. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in First Solar by 70.2% in the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 150,379 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,163,000 after purchasing an additional 62,048 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in First Solar by 24.1% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 41,419 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $9,134,000 after purchasing an additional 8,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 9,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.21, for a total transaction of $2,314,842.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 95,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,189,465.08. This trade represents a 9.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 3,426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.93, for a total transaction of $671,256.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,880.62. This trade represents a 29.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 92,430 shares of company stock worth $18,670,055. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FSLR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Solar in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of First Solar from $280.00 to $250.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Glj Research cut shares of First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $314.43 to $207.82 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of First Solar from $228.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on shares of First Solar from $211.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.03.

First Solar Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of FSLR opened at $233.64 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.25. First Solar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.50 and a 1-year high of $285.99. The stock has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.57.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.35. First Solar had a net margin of 30.73% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) is a United States–based solar technology company best known for designing and manufacturing thin‑film photovoltaic (PV) modules that use cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor technology. The company supplies PV modules and delivers integrated solar power solutions for utility‑scale projects, positioning itself as a provider of both components and complete solar energy systems rather than solely a parts supplier. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond module manufacturing, First Solar offers a range of project services including development support, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and operations and maintenance (O&M) for large-scale solar installations.