Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires New Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 24,223 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,269,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FSLR. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 131,634 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,835,000 after buying an additional 12,439 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Doliver Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Solar by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 4,713 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in First Solar by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in First Solar by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 4,926 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Solar news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.60, for a total transaction of $1,021,085.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,793.40. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 1,272 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.96, for a total value of $169,125.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,492,640. This represents a 1.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,311 shares of company stock worth $4,767,158 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Stock Performance

First Solar stock opened at $130.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.38. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.56 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.55). The firm had revenue of $844.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.11 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. First Solar’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FSLR. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of First Solar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on First Solar from $191.00 to $177.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price target on First Solar from $236.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of First Solar in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.87.

First Solar Company 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.