Harbinger Capital Partners, the activist hedge fund that bought its way into two New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) board seats in 2007, has reduced its stake in the publishing company by nearly one fifth, according to SEC filings. The hedge fund spent more than $500 million to make it happen, rolling up nearly 20 percent in the process back when shares ran in the $18-20 range. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that David Geffen might pick up the whole stake but that didn’t materialize. Now the fund has sold 5 million shares at $8.25 for $41.2 million, according to this filing, reducing its stake to 16.4 percent. That’s still a hefty chunk and a spokesman told the WSJ that Harbinger still considers NYTCo a “core holding.” The stock has been climbing up from a 52-week bottom of $3.44 in March; it’s trading at $8.60 at midday.