American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 13,832 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 238,030 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,832 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.79% of Esquire Financial worth $24,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 438,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,790,000 after acquiring an additional 8,437 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,927,000 after purchasing an additional 7,673 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 215.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 55,367 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 16.1% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,677,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 45.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,816,000 after purchasing an additional 11,628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ESQ. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $118.00.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ ESQ opened at $99.33 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $107.14 and its 200 day moving average is $103.11. The stock has a market cap of $851.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 0.47. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.90 and a 1-year high of $134.82.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 30.90%.The firm had revenue of $39.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.93 million. On average, analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.61%.

Esquire Financial 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.