Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for New York Times (NYSE:NYT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup raised its price target on New York Times from $77 to $94 and kept a "buy" rating, implying about a 12% upside from the prior close.
• The company slightly beat quarterly expectations with $0.89 EPS vs. $0.88 est. and revenue of $802.3M (up 10.4% YoY), and the stock traded near $83.91, close to its 52-week high.
• Berkshire Hathaway initiated a significant new stake (~$351.7M) and institutional investors now own about 95.37% of NYT, indicating strong institutional interest.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Citigroup from $77.00 to $94.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.03% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NYT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on New York Times from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $68.00 target price on New York Times in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of New York Times in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on New York Times from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of New York Times from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.86.

New York Times Price Performance

NYSE NYT traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $83.91. 619,850 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,352,449. New York Times has a 52-week low of $44.83 and a 52-week high of $84.46. The company has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.15, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50-day moving average is $75.25 and its 200-day moving average is $66.75.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $802.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $791.55 million. New York Times had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 20.73%. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that New York Times will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Bardeen sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.56, for a total transaction of $1,034,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,260.36. This represents a 41.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,913 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $140,739.41. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,778,886.04. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $2,214,369 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New York Times

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NYT. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,241,489 shares of the company's stock worth $433,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,628,200 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in New York Times by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,211,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $361,805,000 after purchasing an additional 441,851 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in New York Times in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $351,664,000. State Street Corp raised its position in New York Times by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,027,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,988,000 after purchasing an additional 116,012 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in New York Times by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,922,565 shares of the company's stock worth $272,347,000 after purchasing an additional 50,389 shares in the last quarter. 95.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about New York Times

Here are the key news stories impacting New York Times this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Macro relief lifts ad/market sentiment — Headlines that Trump deferred an Iran deadline and oil prices tumbled helped U.S. stocks rally, improving the broader advertising and investor backdrop for media names. Markets Rally as Trump’s Iran Deadline Is Deferred
• Positive Sentiment: Energy-driven market move — Coverage noting oil prices fell as threats eased likely reduces near-term ad-market fears and supported equities, a tailwind for NYT’s ad revenue outlook. Oil Prices Tumble and Stocks Rise as Trump Backs Off Threats to Iran Infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Big breaking-news events driving traffic — The LaGuardia plane collision and live Iran/war coverage are high-engagement stories that tend to boost pageviews, subscriptions and reader engagement for NYT in the short term. Deadly Plane Collision at LaGuardia Airport: What We Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing sports/features add steady audience — Several Athletic and features pieces (e.g., Jared McCain trade follow-up, Blackhawks prospect, Egor Chinakhov profile) provide recurring engagement but are less likely to move the stock materially. The Sixers are still feeling the Jared McCain trade, but the story isn’t over
• Neutral Sentiment: Feature and science coverage sustain long-term audience — Items like the flying-fox science story and archaeology pieces maintain subscriber value but are lower-impact on near-term stock moves. We’ve Been Underestimating Flying Foxes
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical escalation risk could reverse gains — Live coverage of Iran/Israel strikes (including reports of missile damage in Tel Aviv) raises the risk of renewed market volatility and ad-spend pullbacks if the situation intensifies, which would pressure media stocks. Iran War Live Updates: Israel Reports Missile Damage in Tel Aviv

New York Times Company Profile

The New York Times Company is a publicly traded media organization best known for publishing The New York Times newspaper and operating the NYTimes.com digital platform. The company produces daily print and digital journalism covering national and international news, opinion pieces, feature stories, and multimedia content. Alongside its flagship newspaper, the firm offers a range of subscription-based services, including Times Cooking, NYT Games, podcasts and newsletters, designed to engage a broad audience of readers and advertisers.

Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, The New York Times has built a reputation for in-depth reporting and investigative journalism.

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