Parsons (NYSE:PSN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Parsons Co. (NYSE:PSN) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 773,264 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the previous session’s volume of 815,178 shares.The stock last traded at $86.51 and had previously closed at $94.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PSN. William Blair downgraded Parsons from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Parsons from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Parsons from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Raymond James lowered shares of Parsons from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Parsons from $103.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Parsons currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.33.

Parsons Stock Down 1.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 126.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Parsons had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 1.21%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Parsons Co. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Parsons

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PSN. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Parsons by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Parsons by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Parsons by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 14,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Parsons by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Parsons by 224.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 315 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. 98.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.