Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell by 13.4% in March to 5,990,703 shares (about 5.6% of shares outstanding), with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.2 days.
• Insiders have been net sellers — CFO Desmond Lynch and director Meera Rao recently sold shares, and insiders disposed of 58,151 shares worth roughly $5.85 million over the past 90 days, leaving insiders with 0.75% ownership.
• Rambus shares recently traded at $120.03 with a market cap of about $12.98 billion and a PE of 56.9; analysts' consensus is a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $105.71.

Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,990,703 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the March 15th total of 6,914,782 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,899,690 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Desmond Lynch sold 4,273 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.53, for a total value of $433,837.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,459,135.54. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Meera Rao sold 8,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.08, for a total value of $1,008,167.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,709,463.68. The trade was a 27.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,151 shares of company stock valued at $5,848,885. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oak Grove Capital LLC raised its position in Rambus by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Oak Grove Capital LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Rambus by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 24,085 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its position in Rambus by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Rambus by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Rambus by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.54% of the company's stock.

Rambus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RMBS opened at $120.03 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.55. Rambus has a 1-year low of $43.21 and a 1-year high of $135.75. The company has a market cap of $12.98 billion, a PE ratio of 56.89 and a beta of 1.63.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.68. Rambus had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 32.57%.The firm had revenue of $190.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.21 million. Analysts anticipate that Rambus will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RMBS. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Rambus from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore decreased their price objective on Rambus from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Rambus from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. William Blair assumed coverage on Rambus in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised Rambus to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.71.

Rambus Company 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.

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