Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $168.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

TSM has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $157.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE TSM opened at $156.24 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $141.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.89. 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 has a market capitalization of $810.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.13. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 12-month low of $84.01 and a 12-month high of $158.40.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The semiconductor company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.09. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 38.15% and a return on equity of 24.75%. The company had revenue of $18.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.4865 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. This is an increase from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 21.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $3,232,287,000 after acquiring an additional 442,289 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 99.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 5,087 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 2,534 shares during the last quarter. Investment House LLC lifted its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 117.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 45,840 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,767,000 after acquiring an additional 24,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. 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.