Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Invests $877,000 in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $877,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 352.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $93,000. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 3.9%

Esquire Financial stock opened at $112.76 on Thursday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.08 and a 1-year high of $134.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $974.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.99.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.06. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 29.96% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business had revenue of $40.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.76 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 2,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total value of $241,947.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 58,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,104,565.39. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $2,663,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $905,696.54. The trade was a 74.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,308 shares of company stock valued at $3,430,948. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of 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 lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

About Esquire Financial

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.