Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $113.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $107.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.55. Esquire Financial has a 12-month low of $74.40 and a 12-month high of $134.82. The company has a market capitalization of $977.53 million, a P/E ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.45.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 30.90% and a return on equity of 18.28%. The business had revenue of $39.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.93 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.10, for a total transaction of $525,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $683,255.10. This represents a 43.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard T. Powers sold 2,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total transaction of $241,947.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 58,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,104,565.39. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,308 shares of company stock valued at $3,430,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Esquire Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 247.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 64.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 352.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

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.