SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 887 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 38.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,203 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 887 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Esquire Financial were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 322.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 7,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,887,000 after buying an additional 6,025 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 79.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after buying an additional 16,007 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $252,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after acquiring an additional 11,345 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Esquire Financial stock opened at $88.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $732.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $81.40 and a 200-day moving average of $69.85. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.45 and a 52-week high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,509.45. This trade represents a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total value of $614,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,878.77. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James cut Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.