Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 5,581 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,817 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,581 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.57% of Esquire Financial worth $3,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 79.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after buying an additional 16,007 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 36.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.0% in the third quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 40,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Rena Nigam acquired 640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.50 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,692.50. The trade was a 52.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total transaction of $124,134.73. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated 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 report on Friday, January 24th.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $76.90 on Friday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.45 and a 1-year high of $90.18. The stock has a market cap of $639.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.62 and a 200-day moving average of $72.41.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.57%.

Esquire Financial 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.