Selig Zises Sells 25,000 Shares of Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Selig Zises sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $2,663,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $905,696.54. The trade was a 74.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Selig Zises also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 19th, Selig Zises sold 5,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.10, for a total transaction of $525,500.00.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ESQ traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $105.45. The company had a trading volume of 86,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,599. The stock has a market cap of $911.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 0.47. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.14 and a 52 week high of $134.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $107.17 and its 200-day moving average is $103.40.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $39.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.93 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 30.90% and a return on equity of 18.28%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 1.9% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 64.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 690 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial raised Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Esquire Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

About Esquire Financial

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.