Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 6.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 224,198 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,207 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Esquire Financial were worth $21,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 15.1% during the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 402,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,355,000 after purchasing an additional 14,958 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank bought a new position in Esquire Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,033,000. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $623,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:ESQ opened at $102.13 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $100.03 and a 200-day moving average of $97.14. The firm has a market cap of $874.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 0.53. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.90 and a twelve month high of $107.25.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $37.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.21 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.26% and a return on equity of 19.08%. On average, research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 12.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ESQ shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Esquire Financial from $113.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Esquire Financial Company 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.