Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $39.35 Million Stock Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 2,429.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,530 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,629 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.16% of First Solar worth $39,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Solar by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,257,053 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,068,991,000 after purchasing an additional 105,236 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,801,916 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $472,963,000 after buying an additional 279,719 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,454,499 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 351,540 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in First Solar by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,020,527 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $175,816,000 after acquiring an additional 16,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Solar by 8.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 795,393 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $179,478,000 after purchasing an additional 64,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other First Solar news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total transaction of $1,913,418.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $769,896. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total transaction of $1,913,418.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,896. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,885 shares of company stock valued at $2,405,757. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FSLR has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of First Solar from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. William Blair began coverage on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on First Solar from $258.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $274.00 price objective (up previously from $209.00) on shares of First Solar in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on First Solar from $325.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.46.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of FSLR opened at $240.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $306.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $222.03 and a 200-day moving average of $213.07.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.56. First Solar had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $939.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Solar Profile

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.