Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 467 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,453 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Esquire Financial worth $1,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ESQ. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 322.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 7,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,887,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $534,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $252,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 8.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after acquiring an additional 11,345 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESQ has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ESQ opened at $75.06 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $632.91 million, a PE ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.78. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.45 and a fifty-two week high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS 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 analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total transaction of $124,134.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at $5,132,149.03. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 35,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,522.59. The trade was 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 Profile

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.