Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,703 Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. $TSM

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,703 shares during the quarter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing accounts for about 6.4% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing were worth $25,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of TSM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,930 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the 1st quarter valued at about $247,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the first quarter valued at about $1,959,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 20.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,921,428 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $318,957,000 after acquiring an additional 331,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 2.2% in the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.51% of the company’s stock.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Down 2.7%

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing stock opened at $318.70 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.69, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.29. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. has a 12-month low of $134.25 and a 12-month high of $333.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $294.79 and its 200 day moving average is $268.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The semiconductor company reported $14.32 earnings per share for the quarter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 43.72% and a return on equity of 34.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. will post 9.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $0.9678 dividend. This represents a $3.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Sunday, December 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $355.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Profile

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is a leading pure-play semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related services to the global semiconductor industry. Founded in 1987 by Morris Chang and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, TSMC manufactures integrated circuits on behalf of fabless and integrated device manufacturers, offering contract chip production across a broad set of technologies and products.

TSMC’s service offering covers logic and mixed-signal process technologies, specialty processes for radio-frequency, power management and embedded memory, and advanced nodes used in mobile, high-performance computing and AI applications.