State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Purchases 4,628 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,628 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $7,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,457,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $702,125,000 after acquiring an additional 592,306 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,345,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,695,000 after acquiring an additional 31,813 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 51.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 5.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,725,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $222,023,000 after acquiring an additional 93,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,252,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $161,072,000 after acquiring an additional 16,889 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MAA. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $128.00 to $129.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $136.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.18.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock traded up $2.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $129.24. 874,720 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,239. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.62. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.56 and a 52-week high of $158.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.80.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.93). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 8.74%. The firm had revenue of $542.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $542.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.92 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 124.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $333,076.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,057,103.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,807 shares of company stock valued at $353,955. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.