Morgan Stanley manager sells stake in N.Y. Times

Shares of the New York Times Co. fell Wednesday after news that a dissident investor who had been pushing for changes at the family-controlled company sold his 7.2% stake.

Hassan Elmasry, a fund manager for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, sold the stake in the company Wednesday, ending a two-year standoff with management, a person familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of not being identified by name.

Elmasry had been pressing for a number of changes at the company, including an end to the two-class share structure that allows the Sulzberger family to maintain control. The Times has said the family doesn’t have plans to change the company’s structure.

The Times’ shares fell 43 cents, or 2.3%, to $18.48.

Shares of major newspaper publishers have been declining in recent months over deepening concerns about an ongoing migration of readers and advertisers to the Internet.

A New York Times spokeswoman declined to comment.