Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) Stock Price Down 1% – Time to Sell?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)’s stock price fell 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $137.90 and last traded at $140.02. 10,030,643 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 15,633,328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on TSM. StockNews.com cut Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $732.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The semiconductor company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.6855 dividend. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.68%.

Institutional Trading of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 120.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 17,703 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,074,000 after acquiring an additional 9,683 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 22.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 378,820 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $65,790,000 after purchasing an additional 69,019 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,725 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $834,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 241,714 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,979,000 after buying an additional 26,715 shares in the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.