Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 30,165 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the previous session’s volume of 33,481 shares.The stock last traded at $77.11 and had previously closed at $77.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $648.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.94.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 12.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total value of $614,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 62,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,805,878.77. The trade was a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $252,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 322.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 7,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,887,000 after buying an additional 6,025 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 11,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 566,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,909,000 after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.