Wasatch Advisors LP Has $36.98 Million Stock Holdings in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Wasatch Advisors LP trimmed its stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 4.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 344,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,534 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Esquire Financial were worth $36,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 800,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,703,000 after acquiring an additional 23,692 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 450,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,990,000 after purchasing an additional 11,699 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 265,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,105,000 after purchasing an additional 27,528 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 238,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 224,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,887,000 after purchasing an additional 8,658 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESQ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $118.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.39. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.57 and a 12 month high of $134.82.

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

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.45%.

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.