Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,902 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Esquire Financial were worth $9,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESQ. FMR LLC increased its stake in Esquire Financial by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 156.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 3,795 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Esquire Financial by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,413,000 after acquiring an additional 11,345 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 322.6% during the 3rd 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 lifted 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 worth $11,887,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ ESQ opened at $76.91 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $648.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 0.52. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.45 and a 12-month high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 31.58%. Equities analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.175 dividend. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total value of $1,551,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,522.59. This represents a 36.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total transaction of $124,134.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at $5,132,149.03. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James cut shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.