Longboard Asset Management LP Takes Position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 61,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Esquire Financial Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:ESQ opened at $100.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $858.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.57. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.42 and a 12-month high of $106.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $97.65 and its 200 day moving average is $88.88.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.38. The company had revenue of ($24.94) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.26 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 30.96%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.92%.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 11,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.90, for a total transaction of $1,098,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 137,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,771,914.30. The trade was a 7.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 17,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total value of $1,695,070.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,094,009.71. The trade was a 44.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,326 shares of company stock worth $3,403,470. 18.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

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.