Arcus Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 4,165 Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $545,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,145 shares in the last quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $657,000. 54.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th.

Insider Activity

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

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Esquire Financial stock traded down $2.97 during trading on Thursday, reaching $97.65. The company had a trading volume of 310,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 63,419. The company has a market cap of $826.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.52. The firm's fifty day moving average is $91.36 and its 200-day moving average is $83.69. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.16 and a fifty-two week high of $101.35.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.71 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 19.20%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.23%.

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.