Short Interest in Parsons Co. (NYSE:PSN) Grows By 42.2%

Parsons Co. (NYSE:PSN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,620,000 shares, a growth of 42.2% from the January 15th total of 3,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Parsons

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Parsons by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,575,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,093,000 after buying an additional 59,545 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Parsons by 271.6% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,069,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,812 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Parsons by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,056,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,702,000 after purchasing an additional 255,810 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Parsons by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,192,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,685,000 after buying an additional 183,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.02% of the company’s stock.

Parsons Price Performance

NYSE PSN traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $73.37. 1,401,858 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,387,940. The stock has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 111.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.73. Parsons has a 12 month low of $72.12 and a 12 month high of $114.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Parsons from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Parsons from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $111.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Parsons from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James cut Parsons from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Parsons from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.33.

Parsons Company Profile

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.