Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 17,421 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,511 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,421 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.16% of Esquire Financial worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $106,000. USA Financial Formulas increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 99.7% in the 2nd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $190,000. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 7.5% during the first quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 3,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total value of $1,695,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,094,009.71. This trade represents a 44.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 1,326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 136,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,653,100. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 29,326 shares of company stock valued at $2,926,570 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Esquire Financial stock opened at $99.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $853.09 million, a P/E ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.53. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.90 and a 52 week high of $107.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.97 and a 200-day moving average of $95.96.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $37.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.21 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 31.26%. On average, research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $113.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.00.

Esquire Financial 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.