Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Makes New $38,000 Investment in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 167 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $38,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FSLR. Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in First Solar by 6.9% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP bought a new stake in First Solar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,962,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 2,429.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 174,530 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $39,350,000 after purchasing an additional 167,629 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 939 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 184.2% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 10,417 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,349,000 after purchasing an additional 6,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FSLR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on First Solar from $248.00 to $331.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Solar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $219.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Solar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.46.

Insider Activity at First Solar

In other First Solar news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total value of $1,913,418.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at $769,896. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total value of $1,913,418.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at $769,896. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,766 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $382,339.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,885 shares of company stock worth $2,405,757. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of FSLR opened at $240.20 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.46. The company has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.23.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $939.71 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.73% and a net margin of 31.98%. First Solar’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.6 earnings per share for the current 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.