Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) Short Interest Update

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) saw a large decrease in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Trading Down 1.4 %

TSM traded down $2.90 on Tuesday, hitting $197.49. The company had a trading volume of 6,417,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,998,865. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $195.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.15. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 1 year low of $98.80 and a 1 year high of $212.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.10%.

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.