Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Holdings in Cirrus Logic, Inc. $CRUS

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Cirrus Logic stake by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 22,764 shares and leaving it with 80,996 shares worth about $9.6 million.
• Cirrus Logic’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $1.95 EPS versus the $1.76 consensus on revenue of $448.5 million, with revenue up 5.7% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed but broadly constructive: the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.71, even as some firms downgraded or kept hold ratings.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,996 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 22,764 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.16% of Cirrus Logic worth $9,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRUS. Kendall Capital Management raised its holdings in Cirrus Logic by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 10,600 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cirrus Logic by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,739 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Cirrus Logic by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,552 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Cirrus Logic by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in Cirrus Logic by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 23,790 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,819,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CRUS shares. Zacks Research downgraded Cirrus Logic from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Cirrus Logic in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Cirrus Logic in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cirrus Logic to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cirrus Logic from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John Forsyth sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $852,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 70,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,931,426.56. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Justin E. Dougherty sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.50, for a total transaction of $333,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,410.50. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,149 shares of company stock worth $3,828,401. Company insiders own 1.16% of the company's stock.

Cirrus Logic Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ CRUS opened at $175.63 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $162.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.83. The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.15. Cirrus Logic, Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.02 and a 12-month high of $180.42.

Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ:CRUS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $448.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $442.26 million. Cirrus Logic had a net margin of 20.75% and a return on equity of 20.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cirrus Logic, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cirrus Logic Profile

Cirrus Logic, Inc, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in high-precision analog and mixed-signal processing solutions. The firm develops low-power, high-performance audio, voice, and power management integrated circuits, serving prominent consumer electronics OEMs. Its semiconductor devices are designed to enhance audio quality, battery life, and system integration in mobile phones, tablets, wireless headsets and other portable devices.

The company's product portfolio includes digital-to-analog converters (DACs), analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), audio codecs, power management ICs, voice processors and integrated amplifiers.

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