Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Sells $1,473,200.00 in Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Anthony Coelho sold 11,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.00, for a total transaction of $1,473,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 55,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,082,155. This trade represents a 17.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Esquire Financial stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $124.33. The stock had a trading volume of 179,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,751. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.96 and a 12 month high of $134.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $119.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.39.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.23. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 26.92%. The business had revenue of $61.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.93 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $71,659,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the second quarter valued at about $44,001,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 418.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 87,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,409,000 after purchasing an additional 70,646 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the first quarter worth about $6,593,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Esquire Financial by 471.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 56,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 46,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.50.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, a federally chartered community bank headquartered in Jericho, New York. Esquire Bank primarily serves law firms, attorneys, and other professional-service businesses, as well as small and middle-market companies, entrepreneurs, and individuals.

The bank provides commercial banking products and services that include business checking and savings accounts, commercial loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction lending, and small business lending.