Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Decreases Stake in First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,396 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 5,795 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in First Solar were worth $4,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Solar by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,721,979 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,026,108,000 after acquiring an additional 464,130 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 worth $881,680,000 after acquiring an additional 111,927 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Solar by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,857,848 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $471,927,000 after buying an additional 26,476 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP grew its holdings in shares of First Solar by 60.6% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,266,050 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $375,122,000 after buying an additional 854,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 3.7% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,350,084 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $223,493,000 after purchasing an additional 47,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

More First Solar News

Here are the key news stories impacting First Solar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains: Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating (while trimming its price target), signaling confidence in demand and the company’s growth trajectory — this helps underpin buying interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader analyst/backing and coverage (several buys and outperform ratings from firms such as Guggenheim and Goldman cited in recent notes) reinforce a longer‑term bullish view even as some targets were trimmed — supports conviction among growth/value investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market context: Zacks notes FSLR rose while the broader market dipped — a near‑term technical/flow event rather than fundamental news. Traders may have rotated into defensible renewable names on the pullback. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative performance note: commentary that FSLR has lagged some energy peers in 2026 is more market narrative than company news, but can weigh on sentiment/flows if investors favor cyclical energy winners. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling on March 9–10: multiple senior executives — including CEO Mark Widmar (5,537 shares, ~\$1.05M) and other C‑suite members — sold stock. The breadth of sales can be perceived as reduced insider exposure or opportunistic monetization and is a short‑term negative for investor sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz issued an investor alert investigating claims on behalf of First Solar investors — potential litigation/regulatory scrutiny increases uncertainty and is typically viewed as a near‑term headwind for the stock. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FSLR shares. Freedom Capital cut First Solar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on First Solar from $215.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of First Solar in a research report on Monday, January 12th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. DZ Bank upgraded First Solar to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of First Solar from $279.00 to $228.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.65.

First Solar Stock Up 1.2%

FSLR opened at $200.25 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $230.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $21.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.65. First Solar, Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.56 and a 12 month high of $285.99.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $4.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.22 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 29.28%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Solar

In related news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 3,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.95, for a total transaction of $716,898.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 8,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,582,887.15. The trade was a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 3,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.93, for a total value of $671,256.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,880.62. This represents a 29.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 47,761 shares of company stock worth $9,276,424 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

First Solar 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.