ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ASGN. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of ASGN from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of ASGN in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASGN currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.83.

ASGN Price Performance

Shares of ASGN traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $83.47. The company had a trading volume of 148,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,492. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.70. ASGN has a 12-month low of $82.04 and a 12-month high of $106.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.37.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. ASGN had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that ASGN will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ASGN

In other ASGN news, President Randolph C. Blazer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.03, for a total transaction of $950,300.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 85,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,165,262.69. The trade was a 10.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.02, for a total value of $98,601.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,938.58. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,260 shares of company stock worth $1,168,469. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ASGN

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASGN. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in ASGN by 7.2% in the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 588,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,912,000 after purchasing an additional 39,607 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of ASGN by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 11,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ASGN in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ASGN by 12.1% in the third quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in ASGN by 17.3% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 95.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASGN Company Profile

ASGN Incorporated engages in the provision of information technology (IT) services and solutions in the technology, digital, and creative fields for commercial and government sectors in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Commercial and Federal Government. The Commercial Segment provides consulting, creative digital marketing, and permanent placement services primarily to enterprise clients.