Norges Bank Acquires New Holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,805,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $416,340,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HIG. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 265.5% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,213,074 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,710,000 after acquiring an additional 881,224 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 437.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 871,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $95,322,000 after purchasing an additional 709,324 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 11,904.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 631,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 626,304 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in the 4th quarter worth $65,256,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,938,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $430,272,000 after buying an additional 581,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.94.

Insider Activity at The Hartford Financial Services Group

In other The Hartford Financial Services Group news, CEO Christopher Swift sold 98,061 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.39, for a total value of $11,805,563.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,082 shares in the company, valued at $25,412,161.98. The trade was a 31.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert W. Paiano sold 13,138 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.20, for a total transaction of $1,539,773.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,712,661.60. This trade represents a 29.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Down 0.6 %

The Hartford Financial Services Group stock opened at $122.21 on Friday. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.47 and a twelve month high of $124.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $34.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.27.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.26. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 19.55% and a net margin of 11.72%. On average, research analysts predict that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is 20.10%.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Company Profile

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers insurance coverages, including workers' compensation, property, automobile, general and professional liability, package business, umbrella, fidelity and surety, marine, livestock, accident, health, and reinsurance through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers.