Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $225.00 target price on the semiconductor company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective suggests a potential upside of 48.16% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Price Performance

NYSE:TSM traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $151.86. 27,206,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,816,157. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 1-year low of $125.78 and a 1-year high of $226.40. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $173.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $787.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.16.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The semiconductor company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $834.10 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 40.51% and a return on equity of 30.47%. Research analysts expect that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,365,404 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,047,065,000 after acquiring an additional 4,158,772 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,949,520 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,372,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931,209 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,547,257 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $11,562,498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572,488 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the first quarter worth $362,773,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,498,063 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,678,283,000 after buying an additional 2,074,329 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.