Parsons Co. (NYSE:PSN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Parsons Co. (NYSE:PSN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,640,000 shares, an increase of 22.1% from the January 31st total of 4,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Parsons Stock Up 5.1 %

Shares of PSN opened at $60.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Parsons has a 1 year low of $54.56 and a 1 year high of $114.68.

Institutional Trading of Parsons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PSN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Parsons by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,575,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,093,000 after purchasing an additional 59,545 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Parsons by 271.6% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,069,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512,812 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Parsons by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,056,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,702,000 after purchasing an additional 255,810 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Parsons by 60.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,634,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,429,000 after purchasing an additional 616,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Parsons by 18.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,192,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,685,000 after purchasing an additional 183,117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PSN. William Blair upgraded Parsons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Parsons from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Parsons in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Parsons from $125.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Parsons from $109.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.44.

About Parsons

Parsons Corporation provides integrated solutions and services in the defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets in North America, the Middle East, and internationally. The company operates through Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure segments. The Federal Solutions segment provides critical technologies, such as cybersecurity; missile defense; intelligence; space launch and ground systems; space and weapon system resiliency; geospatial intelligence; signals intelligence; environmental remediation; border security, critical infrastructure protection; counter unmanned air systems; biometrics and bio surveillance solutions to U.S.