Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 30,165 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the previous session’s volume of 33,481 shares.The stock last traded at $77.11 and had previously closed at $77.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $648.29 million, a P/E ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.94.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.77%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,805,878.77. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 566,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,909,000 after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,487,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 9.3% during the second 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 3.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,887,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Esquire Financial by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,413,000 after buying an additional 11,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

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.