ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on ASGN. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of ASGN in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.75.

ASGN Price Performance

ASGN stock opened at $86.82 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.56. ASGN has a 12-month low of $82.04 and a 12-month high of $106.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98 and a beta of 1.38.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that ASGN will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ASGN

In other news, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,938.58. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Theodore S. Hanson sold 1,200 shares of ASGN stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.64, for a total value of $119,568.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 288,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,781,512.20. The trade was a 0.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,260 shares of company stock worth $1,168,469. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ASGN

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

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.