Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Invests $877,000 in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $877,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Esquire Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 450,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,990,000 after acquiring an additional 11,699 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 368,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 265,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,105,000 after acquiring an additional 27,528 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 238,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,292,000 after acquiring an additional 13,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 193,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,794,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ESQ opened at $112.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $974.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.39. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.08 and a 52 week high of $134.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.99.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $40.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.76 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 29.96% and a return on equity of 18.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 2,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total value of $241,947.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,104,565.39. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.10, for a total transaction of $525,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,255.10. This trade represents a 43.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,308 shares of company stock valued at $3,430,948. Company insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESQ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Profile

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Esquire Bank, specializes in residential mortgage lending and community banking services. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the company operates through multiple distribution channels, including retail branches, wholesale and correspondent lending divisions. Esquire Financial focuses on tailored home financing solutions while maintaining a community-oriented approach to banking.

In its mortgage lending business, Esquire Bank originates and services a range of home loan products, including government-insured mortgages (FHA, VA and USDA) as well as conventional conforming and jumbo loans.