Robert W. Baird Lowers First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Price Target to $307.00

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $344.00 to $307.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 32.84% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on FSLR. Bank of America upped their target price on First Solar from $187.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on First Solar from $248.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $258.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on First Solar from $227.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.12.

First Solar Stock Up 6.6 %

First Solar stock opened at $231.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.60. The company has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.44. First Solar has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $794.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $718.19 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 28.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 44.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that First Solar will post 13.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard D. Chapman sold 3,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.48, for a total value of $602,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,045 shares in the company, valued at $199,051.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Richard D. Chapman sold 3,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.48, for a total value of $602,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,045 shares in the company, valued at $199,051.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Chapman sold 7,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.95, for a total value of $1,808,372.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,599,038. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,153 shares of company stock worth $12,540,428 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Solar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in First Solar by 24.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 311 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar in the second quarter valued at $537,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 54.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 1.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 3,232 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 35.6% in the first quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 27,034 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after buying an additional 7,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

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.