Selig Zises Sells 5,000 Shares of Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,501 shares in the company, valued at $683,255.10. This trade represents a 43.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Selig Zises also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 18th, Selig Zises sold 25,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $2,663,500.00.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ ESQ opened at $105.45 on Friday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.14 and a 1 year high of $134.82. The company has a market capitalization of $911.10 million, a PE ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $107.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.50.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 30.90%.The firm had revenue of $39.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.93 million. On average, research analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 40,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the period. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 25,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 9,222 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $989,000. Finally, Numerai GP LLC grew its position in Esquire Financial by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 9,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.