ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $100.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $96.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of ASGN in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on ASGN from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.89.

ASGN Stock Performance

Shares of ASGN stock opened at $89.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.40. ASGN has a 1 year low of $83.71 and a 1 year high of $106.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. ASGN had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 4.37%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 Jonathan S. Holman sold 503 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total transaction of $45,496.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,821 shares in the company, valued at $978,759.45. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arshad Matin sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.51, for a total value of $185,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,645 shares in the company, valued at $1,077,278.95. The trade was a 14.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,763 shares of company stock worth $1,398,986 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASGN

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of ASGN by 7.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASGN by 43.8% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,868 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASGN by 1,851.6% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 18,868 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ASGN by 17.3% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of ASGN during the first quarter valued at approximately $154,000. 95.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.