New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 385,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in New York Times were worth $20,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of New York Times by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in New York Times by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in New York Times by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of New York Times by 0.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 75,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,226,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Hixon Zuercher LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 12,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. 95.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New York Times Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NYT opened at $47.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.74. The New York Times Company has a one year low of $41.55 and a one year high of $58.16.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.06. New York Times had a return on equity of 18.51% and a net margin of 11.36%. Equities research analysts predict that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. New York Times’s payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on NYT shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of New York Times from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on New York Times from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on New York Times from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.71.

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.