Royal Bank of Canada Cuts First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Price Target to $280.00

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $315.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock.

FSLR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded First Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of First Solar from $219.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. DZ Bank upgraded First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on First Solar from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Solar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.13.

First Solar Stock Up 5.4 %

NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $204.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.14. First Solar has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $306.77. The company has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.93.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.10 by ($0.19). First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The business had revenue of $887.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Solar will post 13.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total transaction of $1,913,418.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,896. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other First Solar news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total transaction of $1,913,418.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at $769,896. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $382,339.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,885 shares of company stock valued at $2,405,757 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Solar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Solar by 411.1% during the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of First Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new stake in First Solar during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

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.