First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $224.00 to $227.00. The stock had previously closed at $174.29, but opened at $179.42. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. First Solar shares last traded at $175.46, with a volume of 327,315 shares trading hands.

FSLR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of First Solar in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $236.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of First Solar from $187.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of First Solar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $187.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Solar news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total transaction of $37,085.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other First Solar news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total transaction of $37,085.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $108,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 14,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,315,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,269,540 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Solar

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 548,058 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $94,419,000 after purchasing an additional 20,946 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 504.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 399,650 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $68,852,000 after purchasing an additional 333,496 shares in the last quarter. Sora Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 63.6% during the third quarter. Sora Investors LLC now owns 90,000 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $14,543,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 2.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,040,031 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,945,549,000 after purchasing an additional 279,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 304,592.2% during the fourth quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155,393 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $26,771,000 after purchasing an additional 155,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Trading Up 0.4 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.21. The stock has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.