South Dakota Investment Council Invests $10.44 Million in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 60,596 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $10,439,000. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.06% of First Solar as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FSLR. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in First Solar by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,634 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in First Solar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 12,294 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,987,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in First Solar by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 445 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of First Solar by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 7,409 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of First Solar by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total value of $37,085.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,170 shares in the company, valued at $766,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total transaction of $37,085.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $108,640.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 14,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,315,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,620 shares of company stock worth $4,269,540 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FSLR. Wells Fargo & Company raised First Solar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $187.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. DZ Bank assumed coverage on First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on First Solar from $224.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Solar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.36.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR traded down $4.84 on Wednesday, hitting $175.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,582,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,083,856. First Solar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $232.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $162.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.92 and a current ratio of 3.55.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 13.80% and a net margin of 25.03%. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.55 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.