Gator Capital Management LLC Sells 292 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Gator Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,061 shares of the company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Esquire Financial comprises 2.8% of Gator Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Gator Capital Management LLC owned 1.12% of Esquire Financial worth $7,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 387,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,825,000 after purchasing an additional 21,266 shares in the last quarter. Ampfield Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Ampfield Management L.P. now owns 251,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,005,000 after purchasing an additional 24,773 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 185,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,642 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 166,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,270,000 after buying an additional 23,998 shares in the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total value of $124,134.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,132,149.03. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of Esquire Financial 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 sale, the director now owns 35,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,522.59. This represents a 36.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ opened at $71.93 on Friday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.45 and a 52-week high of $90.18. The firm has a market cap of $606.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.57 and its 200-day moving average is $75.07.

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

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

Esquire Financial 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.