Legal & General Group Plc Sells 234,997 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,364,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 234,997 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.17% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $210,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MAA. Quarry LP bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $547,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 59,733 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,492,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 14.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,331 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180,689 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE MAA traded down $0.95 on Tuesday, hitting $155.96. 614,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 731,071. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.73 and a 52-week high of $173.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $161.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.10.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's payout ratio is currently 135.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MAA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. KeyCorp upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total value of $396,264.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares in the company, valued at $47,949,563.09. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 7,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,142,842 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

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.