Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Shares Sold by Wafra Inc.

Wafra Inc. trimmed its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,070 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 14,728 shares during the quarter. Wafra Inc.'s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $5,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 188.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,451,578 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $195,179,000 after buying an additional 949,171 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,043,861 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $262,943,000 after acquiring an additional 697,200 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,457,634 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $702,125,000 after purchasing an additional 592,306 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 10,178.6% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 349,575 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,004,000 after purchasing an additional 346,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,561,000. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MAA shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $139.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $129.50 to $138.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $154.00 in a report on Monday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.18.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 0.6 %

MAA traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $137.74. 455,304 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 732,897. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.56 and a 52 week high of $158.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $131.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.80.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $541.44 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 25.92% and a return on equity of 8.90%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's payout ratio is 123.27%.

Insider Activity at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,642 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total value of $333,076.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,057,103.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,807 shares of company stock worth $353,955 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.