Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) Trading Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) shares dropped 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $184.06 and last traded at $185.88. Approximately 4,053,383 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 15,332,519 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “buy” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $963.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.13.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.20. The business 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.5484 per share. This is a boost from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TSM. FWG Holdings LLC raised its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.6% during the third quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Defender Capital LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 1,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC boosted its holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.2% in the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.3% during the second quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.5% during the second quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,027 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.