Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 13,335 Shares of Rambus, Inc. $RMBS

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its Rambus stake by 289.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 13,335 additional shares and bringing its total to 17,946 shares worth about $1.65 million.
• Institutional interest in Rambus remains strong, with several large investors significantly boosting positions and 88.54% of the company’s stock now held by institutions.
• Rambus beat quarterly earnings expectations, but insiders have been selling shares recently; meanwhile, analysts are broadly positive with an average Moderate Buy rating and a $130.43 average price target.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS - Free Report) by 289.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,946 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,335 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Rambus were worth $1,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RMBS. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Rambus by 572.7% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,822,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $189,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,159 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Rambus by 196.0% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,550,665 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $161,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,776 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Rambus in the third quarter valued at approximately $93,962,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Rambus by 192.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 701,746 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,926,000 after purchasing an additional 462,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Rambus in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Rambus from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Rambus from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Rambus from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded Rambus from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.43.

Insider Transactions at Rambus

In related news, Director Emiko Higashi sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.57, for a total value of $787,850.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 59,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,378,408.83. This represents a 7.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Meera Rao sold 2,972 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.30, for a total value of $446,691.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,002,092.20. The trade was a 12.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 99,764 shares of company stock valued at $12,400,764 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Rambus Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of Rambus stock opened at $148.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 70.79 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $116.42 and a 200 day moving average of $105.36. Rambus, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.12 and a 52 week high of $161.80.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 31.90%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rambus, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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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