Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) shares saw strong trading volume on Tuesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $91.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. 170,318 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 107% from the previous session’s volume of 82,245 shares.The stock last traded at $85.08 and had previously closed at $84.26.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ESQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Monday. Raymond James downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rena Nigam bought 640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.50 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,692.50. This trade represents a 52.16 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,509.45. This trade represents a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $926,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,655,000 after buying an additional 17,333 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 79.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 16,007 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 161.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 14,521 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after acquiring an additional 11,345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $708.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.63 and its 200-day moving average is $68.26.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.07%.

About Esquire Financial

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.