Insider Selling: First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Sells $160,000.00 in Stock

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 800 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 5,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,168,400. The trade was a 12.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Markus Gloeckler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 4th, Markus Gloeckler sold 829 shares of First Solar stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.00, for a total transaction of $205,592.00.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Markus Gloeckler sold 3,425 shares of First Solar stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.95, for a total value of $749,903.75.

First Solar Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ FSLR traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $199.34. The company had a trading volume of 786,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,368,268. The stock has a market cap of $21.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.74. First Solar, Inc. has a one year low of $182.99 and a one year high of $320.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.02.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $1.02. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 32.47%.First Solar’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in First Solar by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 9,044 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Solar by 50.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 516 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of First Solar by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,529 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in First Solar in the 2nd quarter worth about $494,000. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its stake in First Solar by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 18,862 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $3,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of First Solar from $279.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $318.00 target price on shares of First Solar and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Solar in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.27.

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.