First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) Shares Bought by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 931,774 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,786 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First Solar were worth $164,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in First Solar by 212.4% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,585 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $14,027,000 after buying an additional 54,109 shares during the period. Moore Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of First Solar in the 4th quarter valued at $12,816,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in First Solar during the 4th quarter worth $1,092,000. 92.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSLR has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on First Solar from $236.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded First Solar from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $221.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $202.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Glj Research raised shares of First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $172.37 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of First Solar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $218.00 to $259.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.48.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSLR opened at $186.18 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.52. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.56 and a twelve month high of $306.77. The company has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.55). First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The business had revenue of $844.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.11 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total transaction of $80,116.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,717 shares in the company, valued at $6,114,648.75. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158 over the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Solar Company 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.