First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Price Target Lowered to $278.00 at Evercore ISI

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) had its price objective trimmed by Evercore ISI from $281.00 to $278.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on First Solar from $219.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of First Solar from $262.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of First Solar from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of First Solar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.13.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of FSLR stock opened at $204.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $221.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.93. First Solar has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $306.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.14 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Solar will post 13.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other First Solar news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total value of $1,913,418.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at $769,896. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total value of $1,913,418.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,896. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $110,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,885 shares of company stock valued at $2,405,757. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FSLR. Western Financial Corp CA bought a new position in First Solar during the third quarter valued at $1,209,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of First Solar by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 259,177 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $43,749,000 after buying an additional 15,430 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 121,055 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,434,000 after acquiring an additional 20,465 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in First Solar by 224.0% in the third quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,217 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 3,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in First Solar by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,257,053 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,068,991,000 after purchasing an additional 105,236 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.