New York Times (NYSE:NYT) Given New $59.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for New York Times (NYSE: NYT) from $54.00 to $59.00 while maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock.
• Despite the price target increase, NYT's stock experienced a decline of 4.5%, trading at $59.17, with a potential downside of 0.28% from the previous close.
• The company reported $0.58 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and representing a 9.7% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $54.00 to $59.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential downside of 0.28% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of New York Times in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of New York Times from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of New York Times from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New York Times has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.00.

New York Times Stock Down 4.5%

NYT stock traded down $2.79 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $59.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,889,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,137. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.09. New York Times has a 12 month low of $44.83 and a 12 month high of $62.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.06.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $685.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.22 million. New York Times had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 18.70%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that New York Times will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other New York Times news, EVP William Bardeen sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 16,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $950,595.41. This trade represents a 13.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Perpich sold 4,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 12.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,490 shares of company stock worth $479,728. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New York Times

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in New York Times by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 8,164 shares of the company's stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in New York Times by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 184,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,595,000 after purchasing an additional 3,701 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in New York Times by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 156,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,501 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of New York Times by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 273,322 shares of the company's stock worth $14,229,000 after buying an additional 160,788 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of New York Times by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,305 shares of the company's stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 1,306 shares during the period. 95.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.