Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Grows Stake in Parsons Corporation $PSN

Key Points

• Artisan Partners increased its Parsons stake by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 2.48 million shares valued at about $153.1 million.
• Parsons saw recent insider buying, with directors George L. Ball and Mark Keith Holdsworth each purchasing 10,000 shares in May; insiders bought 32,500 shares over the last three months.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.79 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $76.92.

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,477,159 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 145,238 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 2.34% of Parsons worth $153,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PSN. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Parsons in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Parsons in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Parsons in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Parsons in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Parsons by 613.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 756 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. 98.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director George L. Ball acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $50.00 per share, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 150,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,519,150. This trade represents a 7.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Keith Holdsworth acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $51.27 per share, for a total transaction of $512,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,046,595.86. This trade represents a 33.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 32,500 shares of company stock worth $1,637,325. Corporate insiders own 1.31% of the company's stock.

Parsons Price Performance

Shares of Parsons stock opened at $55.66 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $54.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.24. Parsons Corporation has a 52 week low of $48.23 and a 52 week high of $89.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Parsons had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 3.62%.The business's revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Parsons Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Parsons from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Parsons in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Parsons in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Parsons from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $65.00 target price on Parsons and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Parsons presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.92.

Parsons Company Profile

Parsons Corporation NYSE: PSN is a technology-driven engineering, construction, technical and professional services firm. The company delivers end-to-end solutions that span feasibility studies, design and engineering, construction management, system integration and ongoing operations support. Parsons serves both government and commercial clients and focuses on critical infrastructure, defense, security, intelligence and environmental programs.

Core services include program and construction management for transportation systems, water and environmental infrastructure, cybersecurity and advanced systems integration.

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