Benchmark Upgrades Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) to “Strong-Buy”

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) was upgraded by analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Rambus from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Rambus in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Rambus from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Rambus from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Rambus in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.75.

Rambus Stock Down 1.4%

Rambus stock opened at $101.42 on Wednesday. Rambus has a 52 week low of $62.81 and a 52 week high of $174.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.10. The stock has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.30 and a beta of 1.84.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.94 million. Rambus had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 31.90%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rambus will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rambus

In related news, Director Meera Rao sold 2,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.30, for a total transaction of $446,691.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,974 shares in the company, valued at $3,002,092.20. This trade represents a 12.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric B. Stang sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,805,828. The trade was a 20.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 65,886 shares of company stock valued at $10,171,466. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Rambus by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 150,857 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,025,000 after buying an additional 33,060 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Rambus in the 2nd quarter worth $1,226,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rambus in the second quarter valued at about $135,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rambus in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rambus by 80.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 37,001 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 16,542 shares during the last quarter. 88.54% of the stock is 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.