Inspire Investing LLC Has $1.95 Million Stock Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,085 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,964 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in First Solar were worth $1,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Western Financial Corp CA acquired a new position in First Solar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,209,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,446 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $5,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 802.1% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,460 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 18,192 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 224.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,217 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 244,140 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $60,898,000 after purchasing an additional 14,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FSLR shares. Citigroup upgraded First Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $254.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on First Solar from $329.00 to $297.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on First Solar from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on First Solar from $271.00 to $266.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on First Solar from $311.00 to $279.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.75.

First Solar Stock Performance

FSLR opened at $171.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.49. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.88 and a 52-week high of $306.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $189.98 and its 200-day moving average is $208.83.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.10 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $887.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.07 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.