Royal Bank of Canada Sells 14,994 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 42.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,994 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.23% of Esquire Financial worth $2,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Esquire Financial by 69.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,000 after acquiring an additional 5,071 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 54.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $124.09 on Tuesday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.10 and a fifty-two week high of $134.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.99.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $42.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.59 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 18.22%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 13.20%.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Robert Mitzman sold 3,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.60, for a total transaction of $388,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 139,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,102,398.40. The trade was a 2.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 13.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Esquire Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

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.