Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Stock Position Decreased by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. reduced its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 51.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,358 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 11,080 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MAA. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,636,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,025,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088,143 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $826,562,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,344,862 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $517,015,000 after purchasing an additional 708,125 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,193,188 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $492,421,000 after purchasing an additional 52,050 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,656,669 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $410,641,000 after buying an additional 40,436 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MAA shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James upped their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.55.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAA traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $163.61. The stock had a trading volume of 548,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,785. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $161.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.77 and a 1-year high of $176.02.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. The firm had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's payout ratio is 126.25%.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total transaction of $28,865.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total value of $724,473.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares in the company, valued at $53,890,187.04. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the operation, acquisition, and development of apartment communities. It operates through the Same Store and Non-Same Store segments. The Same Store Communities segment represents those apartment communities that have been owned and stabilized for at least 12 months as of the first day of the calendar year.