Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Rambus shares gapped up before the market opened, opening at $107.50 after a prior close of $100.85 and later trading up about 4.3% on the day.
• Analysts remain generally positive: several firms raised price targets to the $145-$150 range, and the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $134.75.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.63 EPS versus $0.61 expected and revenue of $180.19 million; however, insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

Shares of Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $100.85, but opened at $107.50. Rambus shares last traded at $104.9560, with a volume of 240,218 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rambus from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Rambus from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut Rambus from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Rambus in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $134.75.

Rambus Stock Up 4.3%

The business's fifty day moving average is $131.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.20. The firm has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.18 and a beta of 1.84.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.19 million for 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%. Research analysts forecast that Rambus, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rambus

In other news, Director Emiko Higashi sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.50, for a total transaction of $1,605,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,947,799.50. This represents a 16.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Xianzhi Sean Fan sold 37,914 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,538,225.02. This represents a 18.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 65,886 shares of company stock valued at $10,171,466 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Rambus by 22,321.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 9,375 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Rambus by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,750 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 5,783 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Rambus by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 309,512 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $16,025,000 after acquiring an additional 19,120 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rambus during the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Rambus during the 2nd quarter valued at $102,000. Institutional investors own 88.54% of the company's stock.

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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