Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on New York Times (NYSE:NYT)

Key Points

• Traders purchased an unusually large volume of 4,385 put options on NYT—about a 230% increase versus the average—signaling significant bearish/options hedging activity.
• The New York Times beat Q1 expectations, reporting $0.61 EPS vs. $0.49 and $712.2M in revenue (up 12% YoY), and the stock jumped roughly 9.4% intraday to $84.56.
• Insiders sold 27,913 shares over the last quarter (including sizable sales by the CAO and an EVP), and the company faces an EEOC lawsuit alleging discrimination, a potential reputational and legal risk.

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 4,385 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 230% compared to the average volume of 1,329 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other New York Times news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,913 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $140,739.41. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,778,886.04. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Bardeen sold 13,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,260.36. The trade was a 41.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $2,214,369. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New York Times

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NYT. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in New York Times in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in New York Times by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 446 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in New York Times in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in New York Times in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in New York Times by 59.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 656 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company's stock.

New York Times Trading Up 9.4%

NYT stock traded up $7.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $84.56. The stock had a trading volume of 791,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,127. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.98. New York Times has a 1-year low of $51.03 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.79.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $712.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.93 million. New York Times had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 20.73%. New York Times's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that New York Times will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on NYT shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of New York Times from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of New York Times in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of New York Times from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim set a $63.00 price objective on shares of New York Times and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of New York Times from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New York Times currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.50.

More New York Times News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat estimates: NYT reported $0.61 EPS vs. the Zacks consensus of $0.49, up from $0.41 a year ago — a clear upside surprise that supports the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and profit climbed on subscription and advertising growth: Q1 revenue rose 12% to $712.2M and net income was $87.9M, with management citing continued subscriber additions and ad recovery as drivers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials and webcast available: The company posted the Q1 release, slide deck and hosted a conference call/webcast — useful for investors to assess guidance, subscriber trends, and margin outlook. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: EEOC lawsuit / federal action alleges discrimination: The U.S. government (EEOC) sued the Times claiming it discriminated against a white male employee in a promotion decision; this creates reputational and legal risk that could lead to costs or governance scrutiny. Financial impact is uncertain but it's a headline risk to monitor. Article Title

About New York Times

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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