Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) CEO Andrew Sagliocca Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) CEO Andrew Sagliocca sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 288,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,444,178.54. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

ESQ stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $122.68. 126,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 123,348. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.42. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.10 and a 12 month high of $134.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24 and a beta of 0.35.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $42.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.59 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.22% and a net margin of 29.30%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESQ. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Esquire Financial by 247.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the first quarter valued at about $174,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the second quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the first quarter valued at about $212,000. 54.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.