Arcus Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Arcus Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,453 shares of the company's stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter worth $545,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Esquire Financial by 99.3% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 4,145 shares during the period. Delphi Management Inc. MA increased its holdings in Esquire Financial by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 2,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $657,000. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ari P. Kornhaber sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.51, for a total value of $1,670,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 104,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,738,820.44. The trade was a 16.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Waterhouse sold 3,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.87, for a total value of $251,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 86,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,263,058.13. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

Shares of Esquire Financial stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.87. 239,238 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 64,179. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.82. The firm has a market cap of $819.48 million, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.52. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.16 and a 52 week high of $101.35.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company had revenue of $33.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.71 million. Equities research analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday.

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.