Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Position Lessened by Boston Partners

Boston Partners reduced its stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 44.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,520 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 0.11% of Esquire Financial worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESQ. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth about $180,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth about $272,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth about $54,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 156.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total value of $124,134.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total transaction of $1,551,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,522.59. This trade represents a 36.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 1.7 %

ESQ stock opened at $72.18 on Friday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.45 and a twelve month high of $90.18. The company has a market cap of $600.61 million, a PE ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.08.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

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.