Legal & General Group Plc Sells 42,935 Shares of First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 615,950 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 42,935 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in First Solar were worth $160,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,721,979 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $3,026,108,000 after acquiring an additional 464,130 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 60.6% in 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 increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 38.6% in 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 increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 2.6% in 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 increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 48.2% in 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. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on First Solar from $258.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on First Solar from $205.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore upped their price objective on First Solar from $212.00 to $219.00 in a research note on Monday, May 4th. HSBC upped their price objective on First Solar from $211.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on First Solar from $280.00 to $250.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other First Solar news, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.63, for a total transaction of $107,383.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 30,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,622,428.56. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Georges Antoun sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.63, for a total transaction of $122,046.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 19,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,294,918.34. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,827 shares of company stock worth $20,006,930. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $273.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.56. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.50 and a fifty-two week high of $285.99.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 30.73% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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.