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

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 284,689 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 94% compared to the average daily volume of 146,818 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the second quarter worth about $250,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 55.6% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance raised its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 16,976 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 4,080 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 318.6% during the second quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 120,768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,991,000 after purchasing an additional 91,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lingotto Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 37.0% in the second quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 185,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,155,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. 16.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE TSM opened at $215.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.07. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 1-year low of $100.00 and a 1-year high of $222.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $197.53 and a 200-day moving average of $183.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The semiconductor company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.08. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 39.10% and a return on equity of 27.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.10%.

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.