Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires New Shares in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in New York Times in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in New York Times in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in New York Times in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in New York Times by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in New York Times in the 3rd quarter worth $120,000. 95.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of New York Times in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.67.

New York Times Price Performance

New York Times stock opened at $43.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.26 and a 200-day moving average of $44.76. The New York Times Company has a one year low of $35.06 and a one year high of $49.87. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06 and a beta of 1.01.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $680.02 million. New York Times had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 16.48%. New York Times’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The New York Times Company will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David S. Perpich sold 3,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.03, for a total value of $132,706.42. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,396.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other New York Times news, Director David S. Perpich sold 3,014 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.03, for a total value of $132,706.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,396.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Levien Meredith A. Kopit sold 13,543 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.11, for a total transaction of $597,381.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,759 shares in the company, valued at $4,003,379.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,557 shares of company stock valued at $1,029,968. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.