DAVENPORT & Co LLC Buys New Stake in First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,432 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Solar during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Solar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in First Solar by 126.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 152 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in First Solar by 138.9% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 172 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in First Solar by 591.9% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FSLR. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of First Solar from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Glj Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $214.06 price objective (up from $172.53) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of First Solar from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on First Solar from $212.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on First Solar from $202.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.04.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other First Solar news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 2,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.44, for a total transaction of $462,900.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,326,357.84. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Nathan B. Theurer sold 686 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.03, for a total transaction of $124,872.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,715 shares of company stock worth $5,733,305. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of First Solar stock opened at $226.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.65. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.56 and a 1 year high of $237.20. The firm has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.90.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.50. First Solar had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 28.95%.The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.25 earnings per share. First Solar’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. First Solar has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-16.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.