Wall Street Zen Downgrades Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) to Sell

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $113.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.00.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:ESQ opened at $99.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $855.14 million, a P/E ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.69. Esquire Financial has a 1 year low of $68.90 and a 1 year high of $107.25.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.01. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 31.26%.The company had revenue of $37.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.21 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Esquire Financial by 352.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $93,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.