Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Rambus, Inc. $RMBS

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 180,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 50,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Rambus were worth $16,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of RMBS. 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. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Rambus by 8.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Rambus by 2.2% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,703 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Rambus by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,833 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.54% of the company’s stock.

Rambus Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:RMBS opened at $130.28 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $106.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.98. Rambus, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.12 and a 12-month high of $161.80. The firm has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.04 and a beta of 1.79.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. Rambus had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 31.90%.The firm had revenue of $180.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.94 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rambus, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rambus news, CFO Desmond Lynch sold 4,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.53, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Luc Seraphin sold 5,426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.65, for a total value of $470,162.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 345,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,960,710.55. The trade was a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 61,123 shares of company stock valued at $6,295,577. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on RMBS. Weiss Ratings cut Rambus from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Rambus from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Rambus from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Rambus in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Rambus from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.43.

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.