Trust Investment Advisors Sells 117 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Trust Investment Advisors trimmed its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,763 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in First Solar were worth $663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of First Solar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in First Solar by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,821,701 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,259,697,000 after purchasing an additional 120,289 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Solar by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 53,675 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $9,460,000 after purchasing an additional 8,167 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of First Solar by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 3,306 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,469,000. 92.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of First Solar from $360.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on First Solar from $254.00 to $236.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on First Solar in a report on Monday, March 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on First Solar from $307.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $3,039,360.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,589,129.27. This represents a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Georges Antoun sold 229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $30,628.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,066,815. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of FSLR opened at $131.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.71. First Solar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.96 and a 12 month high of $306.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.81 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. As a group, analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 EPS for the current 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.