Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 39,148 Shares of Rambus, Inc. $RMBS

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 152,512 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,148 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Rambus were worth $15,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Rambus during the 2nd quarter valued at $126,268,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rambus by 138.4% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,787,327 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $178,445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,618,133 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Rambus in the third quarter worth $93,962,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Rambus by 183.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 894,906 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $93,249,000 after purchasing an additional 578,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Rambus by 41.0% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,737,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $111,207,000 after purchasing an additional 504,852 shares in the last quarter. 88.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rambus

In related news, CFO Desmond Lynch sold 4,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.53, for a total value of $433,837.69. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,459,135.54. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Luc Seraphin sold 39,914 shares of Rambus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.63, for a total transaction of $3,936,717.82. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 331,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,653,434.10. The trade was a 10.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RMBS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Rambus in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cfra lowered Rambus from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore decreased their price target on Rambus from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Rambus to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Rambus from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rambus presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.71.

Rambus Stock Performance

Rambus stock traded up $2.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $91.81. 410,200 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,549,048. The company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.61. Rambus, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.12 and a 52-week high of $135.75.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.68. The firm had revenue of $190.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.21 million. Rambus had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 32.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rambus, Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Rambus Profile

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.