ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Trading Up 6.1% - What's Next?

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 6.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $90.60 and last traded at $89.63. 82,731 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 301,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ASGN. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of ASGN in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded ASGN from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday. Two 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.89.

ASGN Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.40. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $93.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.27.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. ASGN had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 4.37%. ASGN's revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that ASGN Incorporated will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ASGN

In related news, Director Jonathan S. Holman sold 503 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total value of $45,496.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $978,759.45. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Theodore S. Hanson sold 1,200 shares of ASGN stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,398,986 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of ASGN

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASGN during the first quarter worth $154,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASGN by 1,851.6% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,887 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,753,000 after buying an additional 18,868 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASGN by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 2,868 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in ASGN by 28.2% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. raised 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 valued at $54,912,000 after acquiring an additional 39,607 shares in 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.