Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ Shares Sold by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG cut its Esquire Financial stake by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,411 shares and ending with 21,075 shares worth about $2.15 million.
• Insiders also sold shares, including directors Richard T. Powers and Selig Zises, with total insider sales of 32,308 shares valued at $3.43 million in the last quarter.
• Esquire Financial beat quarterly EPS estimates with $1.58 per share, and the company declared a $0.20 quarterly dividend payable June 1, while analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $120.33.

UBS Group AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) by 33.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,075 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,411 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned 0.25% of Esquire Financial worth $2,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 215.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company's stock worth $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 55,367 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 69.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,367 shares of the company's stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,178 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 54.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,676 shares of the company's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,684 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In related 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 transaction, the director owned 58,233 shares in the company, valued at $6,104,565.39. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $2,663,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $905,696.54. This represents a 74.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 32,308 shares of company stock valued at $3,430,948 in the last quarter. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 2.3%

ESQ stock opened at $110.03 on Thursday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.54 and a fifty-two week high of $134.82. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $109.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.55. The stock has a market cap of $950.66 million, a PE ratio of 18.49 and a beta of 0.39.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Esquire Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Esquire Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.