Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 52.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,904 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,094 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Solar were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Solar by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 227,416 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $39,180,000 after buying an additional 58,325 shares in the last quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,498,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,875 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 15,553 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Solar by 442.6% in the 4th quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,504 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 11,831 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in First Solar by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,569 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $9,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on FSLR shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on First Solar from $187.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of First Solar from $359.00 to $356.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of First Solar from $227.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of First Solar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $227.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of First Solar from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.28.

First Solar Stock Performance

NASDAQ FSLR opened at $251.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.37. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $253.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $794.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.19 million. First Solar had a net margin of 28.75% and a return on equity of 16.24%. First Solar’s revenue was up 44.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other news, Director R Craig Kennedy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.76, for a total transaction of $236,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,641 shares in the company, valued at $2,467,524.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Caroline Stockdale sold 12,406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $2,543,230.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,515,125. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director R Craig Kennedy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.76, for a total transaction of $236,640.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,641 shares in the company, valued at $2,467,524.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,191 shares of company stock valued at $7,809,099 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About First Solar

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.