Flputnam Investment Management Co. Invests $688,000 in First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,917 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in First Solar by 29.3% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,138,473 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $224,540,000 after buying an additional 258,204 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,697,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 1,054.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 52,219 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $13,641,000 after acquiring an additional 47,695 shares during the period. Genus Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Solar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,525,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Solar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $392,040,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSLR has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on First Solar in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Solar from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Mizuho set a $324.00 price target on First Solar in a report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of First Solar in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Solar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.27.

First Solar Stock Down 1.3%

FSLR stock opened at $201.90 on Tuesday. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.99 and a 52-week high of $320.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.76.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $1.02. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 32.47%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other First Solar news, insider Michael Koralewski sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.51, for a total value of $1,550,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,779.42. This represents a 47.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.00, for a total transaction of $205,592.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 6,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,647,216. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 15,081 shares of company stock valued at $3,457,086 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.