L & S Advisors Inc Has $1.73 Million Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

L & S Advisors Inc decreased its holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,791 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,606 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in First Solar were worth $1,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FSLR. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,859 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in First Solar by 665.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,192 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $7,308,000 after acquiring an additional 34,074 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,446 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,780 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Solar during the 4th quarter worth $1,240,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of First Solar by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 595,267 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $104,910,000 after purchasing an additional 49,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $3,039,360.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares in the company, valued at $14,589,129.27. The trade was a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.96, for a total transaction of $55,710.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $624,247.20. This represents a 8.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Solar Stock Up 0.6 %

First Solar stock opened at $127.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $150.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.14. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.32 and a 52-week high of $306.77. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.81 by ($1.16). First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Equities analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FSLR. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of First Solar from $335.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of First Solar from $307.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on First Solar from $246.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on First Solar from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.08.

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.