Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Makes New Investment in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Key Points

• Legacy Capital Group California Inc. has acquired 2,151 shares of First Solar, Inc., valued at approximately $272,000, marking a new investment position in the company.
• Analysts have displayed a positive outlook for First Solar, with multiple firms raising their price targets and maintaining buy ratings; the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $222.67.
• First Solar reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $3.18, surpassing analyst predictions and reflecting an 8.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.10 billion.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,151 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in First Solar by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of First Solar by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 993 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of First Solar by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,348 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $1,435,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Solar by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Solar by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 9,557 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.05, for a total transaction of $1,481,812.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 8,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,246,136.85. This represents a 54.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $288,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $791,640. This trade represents a 26.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,976 shares of company stock worth $2,515,172. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FSLR shares. Hsbc Global Res raised First Solar to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $223.00 price target on First Solar and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised First Solar from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on First Solar from $203.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on First Solar from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Solar currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.67.

First Solar Stock Down 0.8%

FSLR stock traded down $1.40 during trading on Monday, reaching $183.25. 425,492 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,799,181. The firm's 50 day moving average is $168.61 and its 200 day moving average is $152.97. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.56 and a twelve month high of $262.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.48.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.50. First Solar had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 28.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.25 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 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.