ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) Short Interest Update

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 1,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 348,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ASGN news, CEO Theodore S. Hanson sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 288,855 shares in the company, valued at $28,781,512.20. This represents a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $425,938.58. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,260 shares of company stock valued at $1,168,469 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASGN. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of ASGN by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in ASGN in the third quarter valued at about $205,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position 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 valued at $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake in shares of ASGN by 7.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.36% of the company’s stock.

ASGN Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of ASGN stock opened at $88.50 on Tuesday. ASGN has a one year low of $82.04 and a one year high of $106.42. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.38. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $87.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.58.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASGN. BMO Capital Markets raised ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of ASGN in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of ASGN from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.75.

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.