Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TSM)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 218,872 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 65% compared to the typical volume of 133,014 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 116.3% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,784,316 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,352,992,000 after buying an additional 4,186,133 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 7.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,974,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,721,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783,802 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,237,998 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,834,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,687,886 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TSM. StockNews.com lowered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:TSM traded up $4.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $198.89. The company had a trading volume of 10,751,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,250,080. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.32. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 12-month low of $95.25 and a 12-month high of $212.60.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.20. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 27.44% and a net margin of 39.10%. The firm had revenue of $23.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.72 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.57%.

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.