ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on ASGN. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of ASGN in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ASGN presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.83.

ASGN Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ASGN opened at $83.34 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10 and a beta of 1.38. ASGN has a 52 week low of $82.04 and a 52 week high of $106.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.93 and a 200 day moving average of $91.67.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. ASGN had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 4.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ASGN will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ASGN

In other ASGN news, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,938.58. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Randolph C. Blazer sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 85,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,165,262.69. The trade was a 10.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,260 shares of company stock worth $1,168,469. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASGN

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in ASGN by 7.2% during the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 588,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,912,000 after purchasing an additional 39,607 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake 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 worth $1,102,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ASGN by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in ASGN by 17.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ASGN in the 3rd quarter worth $205,000. 95.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ASGN

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.