Insider Selling: Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) CEO Sells $1,227,300.00 in Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) CEO Andrew Sagliocca sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.73, for a total value of $1,227,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 288,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,444,178.54. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

Shares of ESQ opened at $121.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $122.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.82. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.10 and a 12 month high of $134.82.

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

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $294,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 1,235.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 39,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,737,000 after purchasing an additional 36,792 shares during the period. Arcus Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 1.7% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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. Founded in 2006, Esquire Bank focuses on serving law firms, attorneys, and other professional service businesses, along with small and middle-market companies and individual customers.

The bank offers commercial and consumer banking products, including business and personal deposit accounts, commercial real estate and commercial loans, lines of credit, mortgage loans, and treasury management services.