The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 7,031 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,259 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,031 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $12,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MAA. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $168.45.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $164.86. 820,045 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 731,722. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.77 and a 52-week high of $173.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company's fifty day moving average price is $161.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.70.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $551.21 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's payout ratio is 126.25%.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $502,552.20. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $47,949,563.09. The trade was 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 valued at $1,171,707 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.