Short Interest in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) Increases By 26.1%

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,120,000 shares, an increase of 26.1% from the May 31st total of 24,670,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 670.4% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC increased its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 470.7% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 234 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 16.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TSM shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.60.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Performance

Shares of TSM traded up $2.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.81. 11,216,068 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,412,981. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $901.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.84. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 52 week low of $84.01 and a 52 week high of $184.86.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The semiconductor company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.09. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 24.75% and a net margin of 38.15%. The firm had revenue of $18.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 6.13 EPS for the current year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.4865 per share. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. This is an increase from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio is 32.76%.

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.