Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 11,699 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 450,577 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,699 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.05% of Esquire Financial worth $45,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 352.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 50.2% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Esquire Financial stock opened at $105.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $910.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.39. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.08 and a 52-week high of $134.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.65.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $40.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.76 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 29.96%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 2,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total transaction of $241,947.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,104,565.39. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $2,663,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,501 shares in the company, valued at $905,696.54. The trade was a 74.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,308 shares of company stock worth $3,430,948 over the last ninety days. 18.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Esquire Bank, specializes in residential mortgage lending and community banking services. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the company operates through multiple distribution channels, including retail branches, wholesale and correspondent lending divisions. Esquire Financial focuses on tailored home financing solutions while maintaining a community-oriented approach to banking.

In its mortgage lending business, Esquire Bank originates and services a range of home loan products, including government-insured mortgages (FHA, VA and USDA) as well as conventional conforming and jumbo loans.