Richard Powers Sells 2,308 Shares of Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Richard Powers sold 2,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total transaction of $241,947.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,104,565.39. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

Shares of Esquire Financial stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $105.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,599. The stock has a market cap of $911.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 0.47. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.14 and a 52 week high of $134.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $107.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.40.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 30.90%.The company had revenue of $39.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.93 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 800,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,703,000 after buying an additional 23,692 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 450,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,990,000 after acquiring an additional 11,699 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 368,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 265,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,105,000 after acquiring an additional 27,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Esquire Financial by 6.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 238,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,832 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

About Esquire Financial

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Esquire Bank, specializes in residential mortgage lending and community banking services. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the company operates through multiple distribution channels, including retail branches, wholesale and correspondent lending divisions. Esquire Financial focuses on tailored home financing solutions while maintaining a community-oriented approach to banking.

In its mortgage lending business, Esquire Bank originates and services a range of home loan products, including government-insured mortgages (FHA, VA and USDA) as well as conventional conforming and jumbo loans.