ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 319,498 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 53% from the previous session’s volume of 208,409 shares.The stock last traded at $85.50 and had previously closed at $85.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of ASGN in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded ASGN from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.75.

ASGN Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98 and a beta of 1.38.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last issued its quarterly 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 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 the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. ASGN’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that ASGN Incorporated 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 ASGN 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,938.58. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Theodore S. Hanson sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.64, for a total transaction of $119,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 288,855 shares in the company, valued at $28,781,512.20. The trade was a 0.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,260 shares of company stock worth $1,168,469 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASGN

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASGN. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of ASGN by 7.2% in the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 588,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,912,000 after buying an additional 39,607 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in ASGN by 28.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ASGN during the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ASGN by 12.1% during the third quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 800 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.