Stephens Inc. AR Acquires New Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,661 shares of the solar cell manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $2,106,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FSLR. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in First Solar during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Solar in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Solar in the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FSLR. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $236.00 to $204.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $236.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $275.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $228.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 9,557 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.05, for a total value of $1,481,812.85. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 8,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,246,136.85. This represents a 54.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 1,868 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.08, for a total transaction of $278,481.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,998 shares in the company, valued at $894,181.84. The trade was a 23.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,976 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,172 over the last ninety days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Solar Stock Performance

NASDAQ FSLR opened at $171.93 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $161.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.83. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.56 and a 1 year high of $262.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.52.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.55). The firm had revenue of $844.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.11 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 29.72%. The business's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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.

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