Blankinship & Foster LLC Acquires Shares of 3,750 First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 3,750 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FSLR. Western Financial Corp CA bought a new stake in shares of First Solar in the third quarter valued at about $1,209,000. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 224.0% during the third quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,217 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 3,607 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Solar by 6.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 244,140 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $60,898,000 after acquiring an additional 14,597 shares in the last quarter. Mivtachim The Workers Social Insurance Fund Ltd. Under Special Management purchased a new position in First Solar during the 3rd quarter worth $17,635,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 802.1% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,460 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $5,104,000 after acquiring an additional 18,192 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSLR traded down $1.63 during trading on Thursday, hitting $199.37. The company had a trading volume of 150,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,292. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.88 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of First Solar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of First Solar from $311.00 to $279.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on First Solar from $280.00 to $252.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on First Solar from $368.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on First Solar from $329.00 to $297.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.71.

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.