Harbinger Capital sold five million shares of New York Times Co. (NYT) stock Sept. 17 at US$8.25 a share, according to an SEC filing, alleyinsider.com reported last week.

Harbinger said it still considers its stake in the Times Co. a core asset, but the hedge fund has nonetheless taken a beating on its investment in the newspaper publisher, The Deal section of The New York Times reported.

Between 2007 and 2008, the hedge fund spent $500 million building its stake in the company. Its remaining 16 percent stake is now worth around $192 million. Harbinger had taken heavy paper losses on the stock when the share price collapsed along with all other publicly-traded newspaper companies in late 2008, Editor & Publisher also reported.