Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,450,000 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the November 30th total of 30,130,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 13,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 191 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Price Performance

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing stock traded down $2.90 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $197.49. The company had a trading volume of 6,417,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,998,865. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a current ratio of 2.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.09. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 1-year low of $98.80 and a 1-year high of $212.60.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.20. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 39.10% and a return on equity of 27.44%. The business had revenue of $23.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.72 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.5484 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a boost from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.10%.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Profile

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.