Nicholas Investment Partners LP Increases Position in Rambus, Inc. $RMBS

Key Points

• Nicholas Investment Partners LP increased its Rambus stake by 187.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 47,803 shares worth about $4.39 million.
• Institutional interest in Rambus remains heavy, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 88.54% of the stock.
• Analysts are mixed but generally positive: Rambus has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $130.43, while shares recently traded at $146.56 after the company beat quarterly EPS estimates.

Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS - Free Report) by 187.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,803 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 31,173 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP's holdings in Rambus were worth $4,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rambus by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,701,773 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,323,525,000 after buying an additional 140,948 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Rambus by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,842,715 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $261,256,000 after buying an additional 94,214 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Rambus by 4.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,432,032 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $253,418,000 after buying an additional 109,908 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Rambus by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,928,697 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $200,966,000 after buying an additional 11,024 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Rambus by 572.7% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,822,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $189,856,000 after buying an additional 1,551,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RMBS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Rambus in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Rambus from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Rambus from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Rambus from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Rambus in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rambus currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.43.

Rambus Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:RMBS opened at $146.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.79 and a beta of 1.84. Rambus, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.98 and a 52 week high of $174.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $131.01 and a 200 day moving average of $109.96.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.94 million. Rambus had a net margin of 31.90% and a return on equity of 17.41%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rambus, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Xianzhi Sean Fan sold 37,914 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.69, for a total value of $5,751,174.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 168,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,538,225.02. The trade was a 18.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Necip Sayiner sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.15, for a total value of $850,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,100,643.45. The trade was a 21.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 79,850 shares of company stock valued at $11,649,796 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

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.

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