Davis Investment Partners LLC Buys New Shares in First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Davis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,484 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Solar during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in First Solar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in First Solar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in First Solar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in First Solar by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 102 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on FSLR. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of First Solar from $300.00 to $243.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of First Solar from $285.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of First Solar from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Glj Research downgraded shares of First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $314.43 to $207.82 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.78.

First Solar Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of FSLR opened at $248.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.15. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.30 and a 1 year high of $320.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.13.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.35. First Solar had a net margin of 30.73% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Jason E. Dymbort sold 409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.63, for a total transaction of $88,192.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 10,409 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,492.67. This trade represents a 3.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 420 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.63, for a total value of $90,564.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 10,896 shares in the company, valued at $2,349,504.48. This trade represents a 3.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 32,466 shares of company stock worth $8,014,105 in the last 90 days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Solar Profile

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.