Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $77.75, but opened at $80.61. Esquire Financial shares last traded at $79.27, with a volume of 17,106 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ESQ shares. Piper Sandler reissued 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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.

Esquire Financial Stock Up 2.2 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.16. The stock has a market cap of $661.10 million, a P/E ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.74.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rena Nigam acquired 640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $77.50 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,867 shares in the company, valued at $144,692.50. This trade represents a 52.16 % increase 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 Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total value of $614,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,601 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,878.77. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Esquire Financial by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 14.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.0% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the third quarter valued at $54,000. 54.66% of the stock is 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.