CenterBook Partners LP Has $1.24 Million Stock Position in First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

CenterBook Partners LP lessened its stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 88.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,748 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 35,732 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in First Solar were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlatl Advisers LLC purchased a new position in First Solar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,697,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,721,979 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,026,108,000 after purchasing an additional 464,130 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 1,054.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 52,219 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $13,641,000 after purchasing an additional 47,695 shares in the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar in the third quarter worth $22,053,000. Finally, Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter worth $5,304,000. 92.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 582 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $145,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,750. The trade was a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 4,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.43, for a total value of $1,191,375.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 89,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,029,435.19. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 60,694 shares of company stock valued at $13,659,583 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FSLR. Mizuho reduced their price objective on First Solar from $271.00 to $243.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $211.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of First Solar to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of First Solar from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of First Solar from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.40.

First Solar Stock Performance

FSLR stock opened at $249.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $229.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. First Solar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.50 and a 12 month high of $320.95.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 30.73% and a return on equity of 18.01%. First Solar’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) is a United States–based solar technology company best known for designing and manufacturing thin‑film photovoltaic (PV) modules that use cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor technology. The company supplies PV modules and delivers integrated solar power solutions for utility‑scale projects, positioning itself as a provider of both components and complete solar energy systems rather than solely a parts supplier. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond module manufacturing, First Solar offers a range of project services including development support, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and operations and maintenance (O&M) for large-scale solar installations.