Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Short Interest Update

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 439,600 shares, a growth of 35.7% from the January 15th total of 323,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 69,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.3 days. Approximately 6.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,878.77. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rena Nigam purchased 640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.50 per share, with a total value of $49,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,692.50. The trade was a 52.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,427 shares of company stock valued at $975,745 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 36.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 151.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth $64,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESQ shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 1.8 %

ESQ stock traded down $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $83.78. 55,554 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 113,648. Esquire Financial has a twelve month low of $44.45 and a twelve month high of $90.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $697.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.73.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its quarterly 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 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. Equities research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.175 dividend. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.63%.

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.