The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) Holdings Lifted by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $4,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 437.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 709,324 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 31,680.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 694,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $816,310,000 after purchasing an additional 691,900 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 17.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 581,103 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 42.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 935,298 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $110,000,000 after purchasing an additional 277,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 7,564.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 248,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,243,000 after purchasing an additional 245,404 shares during the period. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $113.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $135.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised The Hartford Financial Services Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $100.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.28.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Performance

The Hartford Financial Services Group stock opened at $111.46 on Monday. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.34 and a fifty-two week high of $124.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Adin M. Tooker sold 6,865 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.04, for a total value of $803,479.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,820 shares in the company, valued at $3,021,972.80. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About The Hartford Financial Services Group

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.