AIA Group Ltd Reduces Holdings in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd has reduced its stake in The New York Times Company by 11.6%, selling 9,853 shares and now holding 75,017 shares valued at approximately $3.72 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in New York Times, with Invesco Ltd. raising its holdings by 17.7%, now owning over 2.14 million shares.
• New York Times announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 37.11%.

AIA Group Ltd decreased its position in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT - Free Report) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,017 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,853 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in New York Times were worth $3,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of New York Times by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,987,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $792,975,000 after acquiring an additional 187,056 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of New York Times by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 5,750,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,288,000 after acquiring an additional 750,000 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of New York Times by 19.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,018,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,716,000 after acquiring an additional 481,682 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in New York Times by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,496,614 shares of the company's stock worth $129,954,000 after purchasing an additional 145,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in New York Times by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,145,748 shares of the company's stock worth $111,686,000 after purchasing an additional 322,141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Bardeen sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $290,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,243 shares in the company, valued at $652,543.72. This trade represents a 30.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.75, for a total transaction of $112,932.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 39,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,123.75. The trade was a 4.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,490 shares of company stock worth $769,928 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

New York Times Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NYT traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.39. 487,717 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,794,691. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.36. The New York Times Company has a 52-week low of $44.83 and a 52-week high of $62.24. The stock has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.09.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $685.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $670.22 million. New York Times had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.55%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

New York Times Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. New York Times's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of New York Times from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of New York Times from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of New York Times from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays set a $52.00 price objective on shares of New York Times and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of New York Times in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.33.

New York Times Profile

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company's mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast.