Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 120,289 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,821,701 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 120,289 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of First Solar worth $2,259,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 53,675 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $9,460,000 after purchasing an additional 8,167 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in First Solar by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 3,306 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in First Solar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,469,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 27,035 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 10,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,147 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other First Solar news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,589,129.27. This represents a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.60, for a total transaction of $1,021,085.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,793.40. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on First Solar from $280.00 to $251.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised First Solar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 price target (down previously from $300.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down previously from $260.00) on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.08.

First Solar Price Performance

FSLR stock opened at $126.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.29. The company has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.53 and a 52-week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.81 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. Research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Solar Company Profile

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.