UMB Bank n.a. Buys 88 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 645 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in First Solar were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 4.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,473 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 939 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First Solar by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of First Solar in the 2nd quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Solar by 1,096.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 351 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 analysts have weighed in on FSLR shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of First Solar from $240.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on First Solar from $321.00 to $269.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded First Solar to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on shares of First Solar from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (down from $286.00) on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.75.

First Solar Stock Up 1.3 %

FSLR opened at $174.11 on Friday. First Solar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.88 and a 1-year high of $306.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $18.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.49.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by ($0.19). First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The company had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. First Solar’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.07 EPS 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.