Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Raymond James

Raymond James cut shares of Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ESQ. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Esquire Financial from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

ESQ opened at $82.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $684.49 million, a P/E ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.38 and its 200-day moving average is $67.73. Esquire Financial has a 52-week low of $44.45 and a 52-week high of $90.00.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.38% and a return on equity of 19.53%. On average, research analysts predict that Esquire Financial will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 12.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total transaction of $237,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,683 shares in the company, valued at $291,509.45. This trade represents a 44.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,805,878.77. This trade represents a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Esquire Financial by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 161.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 14,521 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $252,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 322.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 7,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Esquire Financial by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.