Centennial Bank AR Sells 2,500 Shares of First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Centennial Bank AR lowered its stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 53.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,146 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Centennial Bank AR’s holdings in First Solar were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in First Solar by 3.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,721,979 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,026,108,000 after purchasing an additional 464,130 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in First Solar by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,919,991 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $761,396,000 after purchasing an additional 24,206 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its position in First Solar by 60.6% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,266,050 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $375,122,000 after purchasing an additional 854,919 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in First Solar by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,215,461 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $578,791,000 after purchasing an additional 189,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in First Solar during the fourth quarter valued at about $392,040,000. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of FSLR stock opened at $254.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $236.08 and a 200 day moving average of $233.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $27.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.71. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.26 and a twelve month high of $320.95.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 30.73%.First Solar’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other news, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.63, for a total transaction of $107,383.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,622,428.56. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Georges Antoun sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.63, for a total value of $122,046.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,294,918.34. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,466 shares of company stock worth $8,014,105. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FSLR shares. Evercore raised their price objective on First Solar from $212.00 to $219.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wolfe Research downgraded First Solar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of First Solar from $300.00 to $243.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus lifted their target price on shares of First Solar from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.78.

First Solar Company Profile

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.