Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 625,906 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 317% compared to the typical daily volume of 150,156 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. City Holding Co. grew its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 238.0% during the first quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 169 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. 16.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing stock traded down $2.33 on Friday, reaching $213.10. The stock had a trading volume of 5,361,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,705,081. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 1 year low of $133.57 and a 1 year high of $226.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.53. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.6499 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.46%.

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.