Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Richard T. Powers Sells 1,427 Shares

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total value of $124,134.73. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 3.0 %

ESQ opened at $85.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $709.95 million, a PE ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.05. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.45 and a fifty-two week high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.175 dividend. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently 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 target on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 322.6% in 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 boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Esquire Financial by 79.8% during the third 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth about $252,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 8.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after buying an additional 11,345 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

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.