Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 1,800,947 First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,800,947 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $317,399,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,623,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Doliver Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 4,713 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in First Solar by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,090 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Solar by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,463 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FSLR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on First Solar from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on First Solar from $360.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $260.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,589,129.27. The trade was a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $484,793.40. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 NASDAQ FSLR opened at $127.32 on Friday. First Solar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.32 and a 12 month high of $306.77. The company has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

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

About First Solar

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.