Assetmark Inc. Reduces Position in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. reduced its stake in The New York Times Company by 95.9%, now holding only 1,966 shares valued at $98,000 after selling 46,029 shares in the first quarter.
• The New York Times reported earnings of $0.41 per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a 7.1% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing an annualized payout of $0.72 and a yield of 1.4%.

Assetmark Inc. decreased its position in shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT - Free Report) by 95.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,966 shares of the company's stock after selling 46,029 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in New York Times were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in New York Times by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 8,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of New York Times in the fourth quarter worth $13,823,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of New York Times by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 24,634 shares of the company's stock worth $1,282,000 after buying an additional 9,463 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in New York Times by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,035,335 shares of the company's stock worth $210,084,000 after acquiring an additional 102,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of New York Times by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 184,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,595,000 after acquiring an additional 3,701 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NYT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of New York Times from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on New York Times from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of New York Times in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, New York Times currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.75, for a total transaction of $112,932.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 39,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,252,123.75. This represents a 4.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Bardeen sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.83, for a total transaction of $142,075.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $950,595.41. This represents a 13.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,490 shares of company stock valued at $479,728. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

New York Times Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:NYT traded up $1.53 during trading on Monday, hitting $53.82. The stock had a trading volume of 2,326,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,797,789. The company has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's fifty day moving average is $54.95 and its 200 day moving average is $52.04. The New York Times Company has a 12 month low of $44.83 and a 12 month high of $58.16.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $635.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.99 million. New York Times had a return on equity of 18.70% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. New York Times's payout ratio is 39.13%.

About New York Times

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.