Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) Trading Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was down 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $186.74 and last traded at $187.56. Approximately 10,251,949 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 15,339,114 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $985.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.68.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.20. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 27.44% and a net margin of 39.10%. The firm had revenue of $23.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.72 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.5484 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s payout ratio is 31.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 116.3% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,784,316 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,352,992,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186,133 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 7.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,974,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,721,138,000 after buying an additional 3,783,802 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 669.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,721,489 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $646,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,237,998 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1,226.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,983,830 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $344,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 799.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,899,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $329,815,000 after buying an additional 1,687,886 shares in the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, packages, tests, and sells integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices in Taiwan, China, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, the United States, and internationally. It provides a range of wafer fabrication processes, including processes to manufacture complementary metal- oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) logic, mixed-signal, radio frequency, embedded memory, bipolar CMOS mixed-signal, and others.