Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 22,518 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Wasatch Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 563,219 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,518 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 0.07% of Esquire Financial worth $26,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 54,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after buying an additional 11,370 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 156.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 10,397 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 30,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after buying an additional 9,459 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 96.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 5,706 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $127,000. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ opened at $47.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.07. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.52 and a fifty-two week high of $54.80. The stock has a market cap of $397.84 million, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.02. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.50% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The firm had revenue of $29.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.04 million. Equities research analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.90%.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.89, for a total transaction of $114,725.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 107,533 shares in the company, valued at $4,934,689.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 18.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Esquire Financial from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th.

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.