National Pension Service Buys 19,358 Shares of First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

National Pension Service grew its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,763 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,358 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in First Solar were worth $60,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FSLR. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in First Solar by 24,534.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,336,421 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $9,045,862,000 after buying an additional 38,180,800 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Solar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,310,298,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,919,991 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $761,396,000 after acquiring an additional 24,206 shares during the last quarter. Hill City Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of First Solar in the second quarter valued at $620,133,555. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its position in First Solar by 60.6% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,266,050 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $375,122,000 after purchasing an additional 854,919 shares during the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of FSLR stock opened at $209.03 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $216.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.74. First Solar, Inc. has a one year low of $182.99 and a one year high of $320.95. The company has a market capitalization of $22.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.74.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $1.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 32.47%.First Solar’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on FSLR. Jefferies Financial Group set a $196.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Solar from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on First Solar from $245.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on First Solar in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on First Solar from $217.00 to $197.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.06.

Insider Transactions at First Solar

In related news, General Counsel Jason E. Dymbort sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $922,706.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 5,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,402,513.12. This represents a 39.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 5,842 shares in the company, valued at $1,168,400. This trade represents a 12.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 15,881 shares of company stock valued at $3,617,086 over the last 90 days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc is a renewable energy technology company that designs and manufactures photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. Unlike conventional crystalline-silicon panels, its modules use thin-film semiconductor technology based on cadmium telluride (CdTe). The company also provides supporting services, including project development, engineering, procurement and construction support, operations and maintenance, and module recycling.

First Solar primarily serves utility-scale solar developers, system owners and operators, commercial customers, and government entities.