First Solar Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:FSLR)

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 67,156 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 128% compared to the average daily volume of 29,457 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other First Solar news, EVP Samantha Sloan sold 127 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.95, for a total value of $28,314.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $449,913.10. The trade was a 5.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Jason Dymbort sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $922,706.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 5,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,513.12. This trade represents a 39.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,250,221 over the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Solar

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FSLR. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in First Solar by 9.8% during the third quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,650 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,391,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 39.2% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 126,586 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $22,254,000 after purchasing an additional 35,663 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 3.7% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 25,578 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $4,480,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Guild Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Solar by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Guild Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,183 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 5,073 shares during the period. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Solar in the third quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Solar in a report on Friday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on First Solar from $197.00 to $169.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Glj Research lowered shares of First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $161.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on First Solar in a report on Friday, October 30th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.38.

First Solar Stock Up 9.3%

NASDAQ FSLR traded up $17.24 on Wednesday, reaching $203.14. The company had a trading volume of 4,751,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,371,699. The stock has a market cap of $21.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $187.62 and its 200-day moving average is $215.65. First Solar has a 52 week low of $165.86 and a 52 week high of $320.95.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.63. First Solar had a net margin of 37.12% and a return on equity of 18.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that First Solar will post 17.61 EPS for the current year.

First Solar Company Profile

First Solar, Inc is a vertically integrated solar technology and manufacturing company that designs, manufactures and sells photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. Its modules use advanced thin-film semiconductor technology based on cadmium telluride (CdTe), rather than the crystalline-silicon technology used by most solar manufacturers. The company serves utility-scale solar developers, commercial and industrial customers, and other large-scale energy users.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, First Solar operates research and development, manufacturing and recycling facilities in the United States and internationally.