Joseph Melohn Sells 11,000 Shares of Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Stock

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Director Joseph Melohn sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.90, for a total value of $1,098,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 137,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,771,914.30. The trade was a 7.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Joseph Melohn also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 25th, Joseph Melohn sold 1,326 shares of Esquire Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $132,600.00.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Esquire Financial stock traded up $1.75 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 66,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,866. The stock has a market capitalization of $858.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.52 and its 200 day moving average is $87.04. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.00 and a 1-year high of $106.11.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.38. The firm had revenue of ($24.94) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.26 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 30.96%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $51,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 352.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $106,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Esquire Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

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.