Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 3,357 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,381 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,357 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 2.44% of Esquire Financial worth $16,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Delphi Management Inc. MA grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 2,776 shares of the company's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 9,150.0% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the company's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company's stock.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ ESQ traded down $0.88 during trading on Monday, hitting $88.94. 52,361 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,023. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.52. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.55 and a 12-month high of $92.04. The firm has a market cap of $749.94 million, a P/E ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.51.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.71 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 31.58%. As a group, analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ESQ. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ari P. Kornhaber sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.51, for a total transaction of $1,670,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,644 shares in the company, valued at $8,738,820.44. This represents a 16.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Waterhouse sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.87, for a total value of $251,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,263,058.13. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,473,610. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.