Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,527 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in First Solar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in First Solar by 411.1% during the 2nd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of First Solar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of First Solar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FSLR has been the topic of several research reports. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $274.00 target price (up previously from $209.00) on shares of First Solar in a report on Thursday, May 30th. William Blair started coverage on shares of First Solar in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of First Solar from $344.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of First Solar from $248.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.46.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $239.98 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $939.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Solar

In other First Solar news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,896. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total transaction of $1,913,418.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,896. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $421,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,740. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,506 shares of company stock worth $2,827,217 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.