ASE Technology (NYSE:ASX) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• ASE Technology shares fell sharply, opening at $37.04 versus the prior close of $39.91 and last trading near $36.58, a decline of about 9.5%.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock to “buy,” Zacks Research raised it to “strong buy,” and MarketBeat reports an average rating of “Buy.”
• ASE Technology reported quarterly EPS of $0.29, beating the $0.23 consensus estimate, and increased its annual dividend to $0.4171 from $0.36; institutional investors own 6.8% of the company.

Shares of ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:ASX - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $39.91, but opened at $37.04. ASE Technology shares last traded at $36.5820, with a volume of 2,213,235 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASX has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised ASE Technology from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research raised ASE Technology from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASE Technology has an average rating of "Buy".

ASE Technology Stock Down 9.5%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.20. The company has a market cap of $80.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

ASE Technology (NYSE:ASX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.06. ASE Technology had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The business had revenue of $81.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASE Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th were given a $0.4171 dividend. This represents a yield of 96.0%. This is a boost from ASE Technology's previous annual dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 6th. ASE Technology's dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASE Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASE Technology by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 25,975 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in ASE Technology by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,223 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in ASE Technology by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 12,954 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in ASE Technology by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 120,598 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,942,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ASE Technology by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.80% of the company's stock.

ASE Technology Company Profile

ASE Technology Holding Co, Ltd. NYSE: ASX, commonly referred to as ASE, is a Taiwan-based provider of semiconductor assembly and testing services. The company focuses on back-end semiconductor manufacturing and related services that prepare integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices for final use. Its core activities include advanced IC packaging, final testing, wafer probing, and related engineering and supply-chain support for semiconductor customers.

ASE offers a range of products and technical capabilities designed to meet increasingly complex packaging and system-in-package requirements.

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