Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) Shares Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) fell 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $197.80 and last traded at $198.62. 4,678,652 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 17,103,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on TSM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $205.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.06. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 40.51% and a return on equity of 30.47%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.6855 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.51% of the company’s stock.

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.