New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $243,000 Stock Holdings in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,059 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Esquire Financial were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Esquire Financial by 36.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $180,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Rena Nigam bought 640 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $77.50 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,692.50. The trade was a 52.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total transaction of $1,551,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,522.59. The trade was a 36.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,427 shares of company stock worth $1,913,385. Insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

ESQ stock opened at $73.87 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.05. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.45 and a fifty-two week high of $90.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $614.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.78.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. Research analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 13.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on ESQ shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.