Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 452 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 8.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,718 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 452 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in First Solar were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in First Solar by 81,947.0% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,669,757 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,729,223,000 after purchasing an additional 7,660,409 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $179,478,000 after buying an additional 64,265 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in First Solar by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 652,354 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $147,080,000 after buying an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in First Solar by 1,757.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 546,193 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $136,242,000 after buying an additional 516,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in First Solar by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 524,203 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $134,476,000 after buying an additional 23,393 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FSLR shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of First Solar from $315.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised First Solar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded First Solar to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on First Solar from $321.00 to $269.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on First Solar from $368.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.04.

First Solar Stock Performance

FSLR opened at $192.82 on Tuesday. First Solar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.88 and a 1-year high of $306.77. The company has a market cap of $20.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $211.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.15 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.