Markus Gloeckler Sells 800 Shares of First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Stock

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 5,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,168,400. This represents a 12.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Markus Gloeckler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 4th, Markus Gloeckler sold 829 shares of First Solar stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.00, for a total transaction of $205,592.00.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Markus Gloeckler sold 3,425 shares of First Solar stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.95, for a total transaction of $749,903.75.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of First Solar stock opened at $207.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $219.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.77. First Solar, Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.99 and a 1 year high of $320.95.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $1.02. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 32.47% and a return on equity of 18.02%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FSLR. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on First Solar in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Solar in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of First Solar from $213.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Evercore reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $218.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.27.

Institutional Trading of First Solar

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FSLR. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First Solar by 24,534.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,336,421 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $9,045,862,000 after buying an additional 38,180,800 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in First Solar in the 2nd quarter worth $269,000. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in First Solar by 2.6% during the second quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 8,088 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Solar by 1.5% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,054 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saudi Central Bank grew its position in shares of First Solar by 89.9% in the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 7,145 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,382 shares during the period. 92.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Solar Company Profile

First Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) is a United States–based solar technology company best known for designing and manufacturing thin‑film photovoltaic (PV) modules that use cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor technology. The company supplies PV modules and delivers integrated solar power solutions for utility‑scale projects, positioning itself as a provider of both components and complete solar energy systems rather than solely a parts supplier. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond module manufacturing, First Solar offers a range of project services including development support, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and operations and maintenance (O&M) for large-scale solar installations.