Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Insider Selling

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $81.00 and last traded at $82.92, with a volume of 68046 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $84.37.

Specifically, Director Kevin C. Waterhouse sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.87, for a total transaction of $251,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,263,058.13. This represents a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ari P. Kornhaber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.51, for a total value of $1,670,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,738,820.44. The trade was a 16.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESQ. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Esquire Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.41. The stock has a market cap of $703.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. The business had revenue of $33.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.71 million. On average, research analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 13.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Arcus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $314,000. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $380,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Esquire Financial by 53.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, National Association that provides commercial banking products and services to legal industry and small businesses, and commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit.