Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 363 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,487 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 363 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in First Solar were worth $2,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 22.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 939 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in First Solar by 184.2% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 10,417 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 6,752 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in First Solar by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,626 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 22.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,135 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in First Solar by 1.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,152 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FSLR has been the subject of several research reports. Clarkson Capital started coverage on First Solar in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of First Solar from $344.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of First Solar from $325.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on First Solar from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.46.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other First Solar news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $382,339.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $108,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $769,896. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $382,339.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $108,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,885 shares of company stock worth $2,405,757 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of FSLR stock opened at $249.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.65 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 50 day moving average of $222.75 and a 200 day moving average of $214.08. The stock has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $939.71 million. First Solar had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The business’s revenue was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.6 EPS for the current year.

First Solar Company 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.