Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 97,538 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 55% from the previous session’s volume of 63,055 shares.The stock last traded at $85.25 and had previously closed at $84.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Esquire Financial from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 3.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $722.51 million, a P/E ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.49.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.07%.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 62,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,878.77. This trade represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $77.50 per share, with a total value of $49,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,692.50. This trade represents a 52.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESQ. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,818,000 after purchasing an additional 21,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Esquire Financial by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,655,000 after buying an additional 17,333 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $926,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 102.5% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 14,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 7,502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Company 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.