Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)

Key Points

• Motley Fool Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake of 4,450 shares in The New York Times Company, valued at approximately $221,000, during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors now own 95.37% of The New York Times stock, reflecting strong institutional interest.
• The New York Times recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.3%.

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 109.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,373 shares of the company's stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 13,248 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in New York Times during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. Centiva Capital LP grew its stake in shares of New York Times by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 36,031 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,875,000 after buying an additional 13,311 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of New York Times by 164.0% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 49,119 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,436,000 after buying an additional 30,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in New York Times by 123.2% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 178,956 shares of the company's stock worth $8,876,000 after purchasing an additional 98,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NYT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on New York Times from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on New York Times from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays set a $52.00 price target on New York Times and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of New York Times in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on New York Times from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.33.

New York Times Price Performance

New York Times stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.11. 1,582,052 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,797,285. The New York Times Company has a 12-month low of $44.83 and a 12-month high of $62.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $55.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.36. The company has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.09.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $685.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.22 million. New York Times had a return on equity of 19.55% and a net margin of 11.92%. New York Times's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

New York Times Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP William Bardeen sold 5,000 shares of New York Times 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $652,543.72. This trade represents a 30.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Perpich sold 4,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $224,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,548,826.42. The trade was a 12.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,490 shares of company stock valued at $769,928 over the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.