Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) Short Interest Down 15.5% in December

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,450,000 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the November 30th total of 30,130,000 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 13,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of TSM stock opened at $201.63 on Monday. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $195.18 and a 200-day moving average of $181.15. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 52-week low of $98.80 and a 52-week high of $212.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.09.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $23.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.72 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 39.10% and a return on equity of 27.44%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.5484 dividend. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s payout ratio is currently 35.10%.

Institutional Trading of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,974,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,721,138,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783,802 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 669.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,721,489 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $646,832,000 after buying an additional 3,237,998 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1,226.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,983,830 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $344,809,000 after buying an additional 1,834,298 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 799.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the third quarter worth approximately $229,098,000. 16.51% of the stock is currently 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.