Ariel Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 307,292 First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Ariel Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 307,292 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $50,869,000. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 0.29% of First Solar as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FSLR. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 98.7% during the second quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. now owns 15,791 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 7,844 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in First Solar by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 3,970 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in First Solar by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 18,862 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $3,122,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in First Solar by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,326,082 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $881,680,000 after buying an additional 111,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 37.7% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,101 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $5,480,000 after buying an additional 9,061 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FSLR. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of First Solar from $232.00 to $247.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. DZ Bank lowered shares of First Solar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Seaport Global Securities lifted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $217.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on First Solar from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.30.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In related news, Director Michael T. Sweeney sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.11, for a total transaction of $1,219,995.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,703,904.82. This trade represents a 24.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.40, for a total transaction of $1,836,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,011,308.80. This represents a 31.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,912 shares of company stock valued at $12,971,349. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $253.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.59. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.56 and a 1 year high of $281.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $205.60.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.32 by ($0.08). First Solar had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 27.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 79.7% on a year-over-year basis. First Solar has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.000-15.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.