ASE Technology (NYSE:ASX) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of ASE Technology (NYSE:ASX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised ASE Technology from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ASE Technology Trading Up 2.3%

ASX opened at $37.06 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.92. 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 has a 12 month low of $9.85 and a 12 month high of $45.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.10 and a beta of 1.71.

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

ASE Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th were paid a $0.4171 dividend. This is an increase from ASE Technology’s previous annual dividend of $0.36. This represents a yield of 96.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 6th. ASE Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASE Technology

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASX. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in ASE Technology by 180,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASE Technology by 135.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,438 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in shares of ASE Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ASE Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ASE Technology by 256.4% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,495 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ASE Technology

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.