Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $83.24 and last traded at $83.22, with a volume of 8640 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Esquire Financial Trading Up 2.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $685.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.41 and a 200-day moving average of $65.84.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 12.07%.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total transaction of $237,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,683 shares in the company, valued at $291,509.45. The trade was a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total value of $614,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 Trading of Esquire Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 566,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,909,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,655,000 after purchasing an additional 17,333 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 8.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after purchasing an additional 11,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 21.7% during the second 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. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.