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

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 589,000 shares, a growth of 34.0% from the January 31st total of 439,600 shares. Approximately 8.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 72,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,509.45. This represents a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,427 shares of company stock worth $1,913,385. Insiders own 18.90% of the company's stock.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 151.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth $54,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 14.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company's stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ESQ stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.19. 51,668 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,968. Esquire Financial has a fifty-two week low of $44.45 and a fifty-two week high of $90.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $600.69 million, a P/E ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.05.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Esquire Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.57%.

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.