Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Robert Mitzman Sells 3,000 Shares

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Robert Mitzman sold 3,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was 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. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 0.1%

Esquire Financial stock opened at $129.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $117.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.41. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.64 and a twelve month high of $134.82.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.04. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.59% and a net margin of 29.30%.The business had revenue of $42.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.59 million. Equities analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.20%.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.7% in 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 last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Esquire Financial by 11.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 23,692 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Esquire Financial by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 199,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,405,000 after purchasing an additional 12,242 shares during the period. Finally, Langdon Equity Partners purchased a new position in Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,609,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.