D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 80.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,318 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,381 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MAA. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $182.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. The trade was a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total value of $396,264.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

NYSE MAA traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $156.55. 1,329,352 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 752,710. The company has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.96 and a 52-week high of $173.38. The firm's 50-day moving average is $159.14 and its 200-day moving average is $158.15.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. 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.