Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $682,000 in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000. Vise Technologies Inc. owned about 0.07% of Esquire Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 215.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,113,000 after buying an additional 55,367 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 69.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 54.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ESQ. 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, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ ESQ opened at $115.31 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $121.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.24. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.10 and a 52-week high of $134.82. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 0.38.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $42.13 million during 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.20%.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Robert Mitzman sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $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 through this link. Insiders own 13.90% of the company’s stock.

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.