Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) Short Interest Up 26.1% in June

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) saw a significant increase in short interest in 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. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 14,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CapWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 122,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,720,000 after purchasing an additional 21,329 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at $6,396,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,079,682 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,232,287,000 after buying an additional 442,289 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $553,000. Finally, Credit Capital Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Credit Capital Investments LLC now owns 58,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,032,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target 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 set a $168.00 target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.60.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TSM traded up $2.18 on Friday, hitting $173.81. 11,216,068 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,412,981. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $155.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.84. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 1-year low of $84.01 and a 1-year high of $184.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $901.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.11.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The semiconductor company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $18.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.38 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 6.13 EPS for the current year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

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

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.