First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 12.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,560 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 284 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in First Solar were worth $639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Solar by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,257,053 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,068,991,000 after purchasing an additional 105,236 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in First Solar by 81,947.0% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,669,757 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,729,223,000 after purchasing an additional 7,660,409 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in First Solar by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,801,916 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $472,963,000 after purchasing an additional 279,719 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in First Solar by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 795,393 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $179,478,000 after purchasing an additional 64,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in First Solar by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 652,354 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $147,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other First Solar news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $382,339.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $382,339.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total transaction of $1,913,418.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $769,896. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,885 shares of company stock worth $2,405,757. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FSLR. UBS Group lifted their price objective on First Solar from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $286.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $368.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Solar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.13.

First Solar Trading Up 5.4 %

Shares of FSLR opened at $204.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $221.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.48. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.10 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.12 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.