Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $72.00 to $80.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Esquire Financial traded as high as $80.15 and last traded at $79.69, with a volume of 8440 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.90.

Separately, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total value of $614,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,805,878.77. The trade was a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESQ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the third quarter valued at $54,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new position in Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at about $91,000. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $647.80 million, a P/E ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.43.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.07%.

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.