Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,376,517 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,725 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in New York Times were worth $175,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NYT. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in New York Times by 95.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 82,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,571,000 after acquiring an additional 40,058 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new stake in shares of New York Times during the 4th quarter worth about $8,490,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in New York Times by 236.0% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 9,823 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in New York Times in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,200,000. Finally, Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in New York Times during the fourth quarter worth about $492,000. 95.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on New York Times from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.00.

New York Times Stock Performance

Shares of NYT stock opened at $50.21 on Wednesday. The New York Times Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.55 and a fifty-two week high of $58.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.18.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 18.51%. On average, research analysts forecast that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio is 40.45%.

New York Times Company 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.