Cottage Street Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Cottage Street Advisors LLC lowered its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 26.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,527 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,610 shares during the quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Solar were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in First Solar by 75.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,097,364 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $523,166,000 after purchasing an additional 904,498 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in First Solar by 961.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 646,310 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $113,906,000 after buying an additional 585,394 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in First Solar by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,805,244 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $336,871,000 after acquiring an additional 426,797 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of First Solar by 993.4% during the third quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 322,936 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $80,553,000 after acquiring an additional 293,400 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of First Solar during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,652,000. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FSLR. UBS Group dropped their price objective on First Solar from $360.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $265.00 price target on First Solar in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on First Solar from $297.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (down previously from $260.00) on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of First Solar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $218.00 to $259.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Solar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.60, for a total transaction of $1,021,085.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,793.40. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,589,129.27. The trade was a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $131.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.71. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.96 and a 1 year high of $306.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Solar 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.