William J. Post Sells 10,000 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) Stock

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) Director William J. Post sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.52, for a total value of $2,185,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,289,713.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of FSLR opened at $206.28 on Friday. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.77 and a 52-week high of $232.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 3.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $203.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.92. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 528.92 and a beta of 1.42.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.59). First Solar had a net margin of 1.49% and a return on equity of 0.71%. The business had revenue of $548.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.41) earnings per share. First Solar’s quarterly revenue was up 49.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Solar

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in First Solar in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 370.7% in the 3rd quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new position in shares of First Solar in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 214.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 261 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 172.7% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 150 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 80.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on FSLR shares. Wolfe Research cut First Solar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on First Solar from $162.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Cowen lifted their target price on First Solar from $195.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on First Solar from $248.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on First Solar from $231.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

First Solar Company Profile

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First Solar, Inc is a solar technology company, which engages in the provision of solar modules. It is involved in the design, manufacture, and sale of cadmium tellurid (CdTe) solar modules, which convert sunlight into electricity. The company was founded by Michael J. Ahearn in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, AZ.