National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 61,942 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 102.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 122,407 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 61,942 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in First Solar were worth $20,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Solar during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in First Solar in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of First Solar in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in First Solar in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Solar

In other First Solar news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $421,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,740. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other First Solar news, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 16,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.69, for a total value of $4,409,049.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,652 shares in the company, valued at $8,419,797.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $421,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,740. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,153 shares of company stock worth $12,540,428. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FSLR. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on First Solar from $271.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a report on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of First Solar from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.96.

First Solar Price Performance

FSLR stock traded up $1.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $223.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,023,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,513,321. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $246.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $794.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.19 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 28.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 44.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.