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

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 4,385 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 230% compared to the average volume of 1,329 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NYT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of New York Times from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of New York Times in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Argus upgraded shares of New York Times to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Guggenheim set a $63.00 price objective on shares of New York Times and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of New York Times in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New York Times currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.50.

New York Times Trading Up 9.4%

Shares of NYT traded up $7.30 on Wednesday, reaching $84.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 791,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,127. New York Times has a twelve month low of $51.03 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.88 and a 200-day moving average of $71.79.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.12. New York Times had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 20.73%. The company had revenue of $712.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New York Times will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times News Roundup

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $140,739.41. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 37,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,778,886.04. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP William Bardeen sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.56, for a total transaction of $1,034,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,681 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,260.36. This represents a 41.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock worth $2,214,369. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New York Times

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NYT. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in New York Times in the 1st quarter worth about $442,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in New York Times by 52.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,990 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in New York Times by 690.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in New York Times in the 2nd quarter worth about $306,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in New York Times by 70.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 55,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,103,000 after purchasing an additional 22,853 shares in the last quarter. 95.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

New York Times Company Profile

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.