L & S Advisors Inc Acquires New Position in First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Key Points

• L & S Advisors Inc opened a new position in First Solar during the fourth quarter, buying 9,574 shares valued at about $2.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 92.08% of First Solar shares; several large firms, including Vanguard and Viking Global, also increased their stakes.
• First Solar beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.22 EPS on $1.04 billion in revenue, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and average price target of $247.03.

L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,574 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $2,501,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 3.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,721,979 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $3,026,108,000 after buying an additional 464,130 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 60.6% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,266,050 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $375,122,000 after buying an additional 854,919 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 38.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,025,835 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $459,917,000 after buying an additional 564,032 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,349,531 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $297,612,000 after buying an additional 34,313 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 48.2% during the third quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 1,117,228 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $246,382,000 after buying an additional 363,274 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FSLR shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of First Solar from $291.00 to $271.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Freedom Capital raised shares of First Solar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of First Solar from $252.00 to $237.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of First Solar from $300.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of First Solar from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Solar has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.03.

First Solar Price Performance

FSLR opened at $233.37 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $231.41. The firm has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.57. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.50 and a twelve month high of $285.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 30.73% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The business's revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other First Solar news, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 14,106 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.97, for a total transaction of $2,820,776.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,999,100. This trade represents a 31.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 9,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.21, for a total transaction of $2,314,842.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 95,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,189,465.08. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 92,430 shares of company stock worth $18,670,055 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

First Solar Company Profile

First Solar, Inc NASDAQ: FSLR is a United States–based solar technology company best known for designing and manufacturing thin‑film photovoltaic (PV) modules that use cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor technology. The company supplies PV modules and delivers integrated solar power solutions for utility‑scale projects, positioning itself as a provider of both components and complete solar energy systems rather than solely a parts supplier. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond module manufacturing, First Solar offers a range of project services including development support, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and operations and maintenance (O&M) for large-scale solar installations.

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