Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 1,349 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 362,390 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,349 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 4.42% of Esquire Financial worth $16,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 501,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,949,000 after purchasing an additional 100,177 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 1,043.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 64,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,953,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares in the last quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,215,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 377.4% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 58,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 46,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 215.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 44,390 shares in the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 12,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.84, for a total transaction of $598,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 135,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,730,044.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

ESQ opened at $46.06 on Monday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.00 and a 12-month high of $54.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $381.38 million, a PE ratio of 9.36 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.82.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $28.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.01 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 33.72% and a return on equity of 20.76%. As a group, analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 12.20%.

About Esquire Financial

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, National Association that provides commercial banking products and services to legal industry and small businesses, and commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit.