Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) Trading 1.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) shot up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $198.00 and last traded at $195.92. 14,551,780 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 20,164,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Up 2.9 %

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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.00. The company has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.59, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.07.

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, beating 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 9.12 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, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.5484 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,974,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,721,138,000 after buying an additional 3,783,802 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,949,520 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,372,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931,209 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 799.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,899,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $329,815,000 after buying an additional 1,687,886 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $229,098,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 9,738,181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,733,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,359 shares during the period. 16.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

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.