First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) Shares Purchased by Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY raised its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,530 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in First Solar were worth $270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FSLR. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 81,947.0% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,669,757 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,729,223,000 after acquiring an additional 7,660,409 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in First Solar by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,956,633 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,236,383,000 after purchasing an additional 108,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First Solar by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,602,503 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $647,440,000 after purchasing an additional 24,143 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in First Solar by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,097,364 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $523,166,000 after purchasing an additional 904,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,743,813 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $434,977,000 after buying an additional 15,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on FSLR shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of First Solar from $307.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded First Solar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on First Solar from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised First Solar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on First Solar from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.75.

First Solar Price Performance

FSLR stock traded down $5.63 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $183.61. 1,471,408 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,719,717. 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 stock has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.49. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.88 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $191.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.08.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current 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.