Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) Trading 1.2% Higher - Still a Buy?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $183.78 and last traded at $182.08. 5,883,433 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 18,063,633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 2.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $203.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.72. The stock has a market cap of $956.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.06.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The semiconductor company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.08. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 40.51% and a return on equity of 30.47%. On average, analysts forecast that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a $0.6855 dividend. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This is an increase from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's payout ratio is currently 31.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.51% of the company's stock.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Profile

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.