Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) Shares Sold by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 95,670 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 9,002 shares during the period. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing comprises 5.6% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing were worth $18,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 16.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSM has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Performance

Shares of TSM stock opened at $165.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $860.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $192.35 and its 200 day moving average is $192.71. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited has a 12 month low of $125.78 and a 12 month high of $226.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The semiconductor company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.08. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 30.47% and a net margin of 40.51%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a $0.6855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This is a boost from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.68%.

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.