CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 2,916 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 69.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,916 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MAA shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $161.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total transaction of $28,865.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total transaction of $396,264.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,949,563.09. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 0.1%

MAA stock opened at $148.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.51 and a 12 month high of $173.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.17.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $549.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $551.21 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 25.70% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.25%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MAA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.