Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Increases Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 33.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,739 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in First Solar were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FSLR. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Solar in the third quarter valued at about $437,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in First Solar by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,213 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in First Solar by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,560 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in First Solar by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 104,400 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $26,042,000 after buying an additional 10,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Solar during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,767,000. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $382,339.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $382,339.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $108,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total value of $1,913,418.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,896. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,885 shares of company stock worth $2,405,757. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FSLR. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of First Solar from $368.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Solar from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on First Solar from $274.00 to $257.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on First Solar from $325.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.13.

First Solar Price Performance

First Solar stock opened at $212.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $221.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.61. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $306.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.10 by ($0.19). First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The company had revenue of $887.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

First Solar 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.