New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 57.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,724 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 16,082 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Solar were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,287 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 19,080 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 367 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 4,930 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $285.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of First Solar from $300.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target (down from $264.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of First Solar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $303.00 to $256.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.40.

First Solar Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of First Solar stock opened at $269.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.15. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.50 and a 1 year high of $285.99. The company has a market capitalization of $29.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $207.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.87.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.35. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 30.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 14,106 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.97, for a total transaction of $2,820,776.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,999,100. The trade was a 31.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 9,926 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.21, for a total value of $2,314,842.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 95,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,189,465.08. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,827 shares of company stock worth $20,006,930. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) is a United States–based solar technology company best known for designing and manufacturing thin?film photovoltaic (PV) modules that use cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor technology. The company supplies PV modules and delivers integrated solar power solutions for utility?scale projects, positioning itself as a provider of both components and complete solar energy systems rather than solely a parts supplier. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond module manufacturing, First Solar offers a range of project services including development support, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and operations and maintenance (O&M) for large-scale solar installations.