First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from The Goldman Sachs Group

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $310.00 to $272.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FSLR. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on First Solar from $245.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of First Solar from $213.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of First Solar in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of First Solar to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.97.

First Solar Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of First Solar stock opened at $177.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.80. First Solar has a 52 week low of $168.60 and a 52 week high of $320.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.36.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $1.02. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 32.47%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Solar will post 17.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In related news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 3,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.95, for a total transaction of $749,903.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 7,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,635,775.45. This trade represents a 31.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Samantha L. Sloan sold 127 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.95, for a total transaction of $28,314.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,913.10. This represents a 5.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 16,681 shares of company stock valued at $3,756,286 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FSLR. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in First Solar by 2.3% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 2,026 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 0.3% in the first quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 19,131 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $3,774,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of First Solar by 3.5% during the first quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,608 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in shares of First Solar by 0.3% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 17,102 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Solar by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,341 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc is a solar technology and manufacturing company that designs and produces photovoltaic (PV) solar modules for utility-scale power projects. Unlike conventional crystalline-silicon panels, its modules use thin-film semiconductor technology based on cadmium telluride (CdTe), which the company says can provide advantages in energy yield, temperature performance and lifecycle sustainability.

The company’s product portfolio includes its Series 6 and Series 7 thin-film solar modules, along with related services such as technical support, module recycling and end-of-life collection.