SG Americas Securities LLC Takes Position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 24.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 501,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,949,000 after purchasing an additional 100,177 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 362,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the period. Maltese Capital Management LLC grew its position in Esquire Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 168,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Esquire Financial by 13.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 159,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,286,000 after acquiring an additional 19,016 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Esquire Financial by 2.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 148,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,810,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Selig Zises sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.84, for a total value of $598,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 135,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,730,044.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 18.50% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ESQ opened at $44.60 on Thursday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.00 and a 12-month high of $54.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.29 million, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.79.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.02). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 33.72% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The firm had revenue of $28.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.01 million. Analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on ESQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Esquire Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Esquire Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock.

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.