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

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 36,350,000 shares, an increase of 14.8% from the January 15th total of 31,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE TSM traded up $1.94 on Monday, hitting $203.77. 23,189,167 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,992,380. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $205.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.06. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 52-week low of $122.91 and a 52-week high of $226.40.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The semiconductor company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 9.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.6855 per share. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s payout ratio is currently 27.27%.

Institutional Trading of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,547,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,562,498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,572,488 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 41,877,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,270,379,000 after acquiring an additional 231,310 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,602,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,031,632,000 after acquiring an additional 294,316 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,767,106 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,995,984,000 after acquiring an additional 359,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,210,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,391,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,256 shares in the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TSM. Barclays raised their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

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.