Piper Sandler Raises First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Price Target to $260.00

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) had its price objective lifted by Piper Sandler from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Monday, The Fly reports.

FSLR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of First Solar from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $194.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Argus raised their target price on shares of First Solar from $176.00 to $261.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of First Solar from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of First Solar from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, May 15th. Finally, Cowen raised their target price on shares of First Solar from $195.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Solar presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $210.92.

First Solar Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $200.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 3.08. The company has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 515.24 and a beta of 1.42. First Solar has a 52 week low of $60.77 and a 52 week high of $232.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.65.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.59). First Solar had a return on equity of 0.71% and a net margin of 1.49%. The company had revenue of $548.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that First Solar will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael T. Sweeney sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.14, for a total value of $1,435,980.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,030,385.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael T. Sweeney sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.14, for a total value of $1,435,980.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,030,385.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jason E. Dymbort sold 965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.50, for a total transaction of $205,062.50. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 6,002 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,425. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,409 shares of company stock worth $12,065,073 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Solar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Solar in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Solar by 370.7% in the third quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc acquired a new position in shares of First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in First Solar by 214.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 261 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in First Solar by 172.7% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 150 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 80.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About First Solar

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First Solar, Inc is a solar technology company, which engages in the provision of solar modules. It is involved in the design, manufacture, and sale of cadmium tellurid (CdTe) solar modules, which convert sunlight into electricity. The company was founded by Michael J. Ahearn in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, AZ.