Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) Stock Price Down 6.9% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares of Rambus were down 6.9% on Monday, trading as low as $83.61 (last at $83.5050) with volume plunging about 93% versus the average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—CFRA cut to a "moderate sell" while some firms (William Blair, Evercore) remain positive; the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $105.71.
• Insiders sold stock recently (CEO Luc Seraphin sold ~39,914 shares for ~$3.94M; CFO Desmond Lynch sold 4,273 shares), even as institutional ownership is high at 88.54%.

Shares of Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) were down 6.9% on Monday . The company traded as low as $83.61 and last traded at $83.5050. Approximately 166,468 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 2,395,602 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RMBS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cfra cut Rambus from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. William Blair initiated coverage on Rambus in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Rambus from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Rambus from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore dropped their target price on shares of Rambus from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.71.

Rambus Stock Down 12.1%

The company has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $101.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.33.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68. The firm had revenue of $190.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.21 million. Rambus had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 32.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rambus, Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rambus

In other news, CEO Luc Seraphin sold 39,914 shares of Rambus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.63, for a total transaction of $3,936,717.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 331,070 shares in the company, valued at $32,653,434.10. The trade was a 10.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Desmond Lynch sold 4,273 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.53, for a total transaction of $433,837.69. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,459,135.54. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rambus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RMBS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Rambus in the 2nd quarter worth $126,268,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Rambus by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,148,653 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $381,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716,621 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rambus by 138.4% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,787,327 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $178,445,000 after buying an additional 1,618,133 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Rambus by 572.7% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,822,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $189,856,000 after buying an additional 1,551,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Rambus by 196.0% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,550,665 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $161,579,000 after buying an additional 1,026,776 shares during the last quarter. 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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