Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 22,737 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 91.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,231 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 22,737 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 200.0% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 240 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the first quarter worth about $46,000. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAA has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total transaction of $396,264.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 319,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,949,563.09. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total value of $28,865.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,012 shares in the company, valued at $502,552.20. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,861 shares of company stock worth $431,607 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock traded up $1.26 on Friday, hitting $150.47. The stock had a trading volume of 403,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,208. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.51 and a twelve month high of $173.38. The business's 50 day moving average is $154.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.75.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 25.70%. The company had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.25%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Profile

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.