Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Selig Zises Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total value of $1,551,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,522.59. This trade represents a 36.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of ESQ opened at $73.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $615.59 million, a PE ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 0.73. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.45 and a 12-month high of $90.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.94.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 13.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESQ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 36.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Esquire Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 151.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.