Raymond James Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Parsons Corporation $PSN

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Parsons Corporation by 57.8%, selling 397,300 shares and now holding 290,146 shares valued at approximately $17.2 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded Parsons' ratings, with Raymond James increasing it to a strong-buy rating and a price objective of $90.00, reflecting positive sentiment among analysts.
• Parsons Corporation reported a quarterly revenue of $1.58 billion and earnings per share of $0.78, surpassing expectations but showing a 5.1% decline year-over-year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN - Free Report) by 57.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290,146 shares of the company's stock after selling 397,300 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.27% of Parsons worth $17,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Parsons during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Parsons during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Parsons by 238.7% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 552 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Parsons by 1,803.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 552 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Parsons by 63.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 610 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 98.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Parsons from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Parsons from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Parsons in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Parsons from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Parsons from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.70.

Parsons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PSN traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $80.63. 1,142,991 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 940,021. The company has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.63. Parsons Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.56 and a 1 year high of $114.68. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $76.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Parsons had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 12.36%. The business's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Parsons Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Parsons 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.