Legend Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 4,495 First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,495 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $759,000. First Solar makes up about 0.5% of Legend Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Solar by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,151,817 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,093,515,000 after buying an additional 111,786 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,454,499 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $422,861,000 after purchasing an additional 351,540 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 10.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,283,705 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $369,024,000 after purchasing an additional 211,755 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at about $298,123,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,020,527 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $175,816,000 after purchasing an additional 16,756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSLR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of First Solar from $209.50 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of First Solar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $187.00 to $250.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of First Solar from $359.00 to $356.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $240.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Solar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.52.

First Solar Stock Down 9.8 %

Shares of FSLR stock traded down $24.46 on Friday, hitting $225.46. The stock had a trading volume of 6,087,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,946,899. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $232.57 and its 200-day moving average is $185.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.41. First Solar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.30. First Solar had a net margin of 28.75% and a return on equity of 16.24%. The firm had revenue of $794.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $718.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 44.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other First Solar news, insider Georges Antoun sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.00, for a total transaction of $422,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,584,512. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Georges Antoun sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.00, for a total value of $422,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,584,512. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 16,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.69, for a total transaction of $4,409,049.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,419,797.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,890 shares of company stock worth $13,709,131 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.