First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) Stake Boosted by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 52.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 114 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in First Solar were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Solar by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in First Solar by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 39,269 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $6,765,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC grew its stake in First Solar by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Solar by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,151,817 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,093,515,000 after purchasing an additional 111,786 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,099,000. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other First Solar news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total transaction of $1,913,418.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,896. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $110,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,885 shares of company stock worth $2,405,757. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of First Solar from $271.00 to $266.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of First Solar from $262.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. William Blair started coverage on First Solar in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Clarkson Capital began coverage on First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on First Solar from $344.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.44.

First Solar Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of First Solar stock opened at $211.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.44. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $306.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.56. First Solar had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $939.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.53 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.