Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) Shares Down 5.2% – Should You Sell?

Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS)’s share price dropped 5.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $115.98 and last traded at $118.3070. Approximately 604,819 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 2,153,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on RMBS shares. Cfra Research downgraded Rambus from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Rambus from $73.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Susquehanna set a $100.00 price target on Rambus and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Rambus from $114.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on Rambus in a report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rambus presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $108.14.

Rambus Stock Down 7.6%

The firm has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.65 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.32.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $178.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.60 million. Rambus had a return on equity of 17.73% and a net margin of 33.72%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Rambus, Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rambus news, Director Eric B. Stang sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.35, for a total value of $511,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,496,725.90. This represents a 17.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rambus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RMBS. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rambus by 22,321.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 9,375 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Rambus by 34.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Rambus by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 309,512 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $16,025,000 after purchasing an additional 19,120 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rambus during the 1st quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Rambus by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,176 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. 88.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Rambus

Rambus Inc is a technology licensing company specializing in semiconductor and system-level interface solutions. Founded in 1990 by Stanford University researchers Mike Farmwald and Mark Horowitz, Rambus established its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. The company initially gained prominence by developing high-speed DRAM interface technology and securing a broad patent portfolio covering memory architecture, data signaling and power management innovations.

Today, Rambus licenses its proprietary intellectual property (IP) to semiconductor companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators worldwide.