Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Esquire Financial by 18.3% during the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 49,410 shares worth approximately $3.73 million.
• Esquire Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.175 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, and the dividend will be paid on September 2nd.
• Esquire Financial's stock performance shows a twelve-month low of $57.00 and a high of $106.11, with an average price target from analysts at $100.50.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,410 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,046 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.59% of Esquire Financial worth $3,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial in the first quarter valued at $51,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 151.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth $106,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ESQ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $110.00 target price (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Esquire Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.50.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

Shares of ESQ stock traded down $1.33 on Tuesday, hitting $96.77. 36,429 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 90,991. The company has a market capitalization of $826.42 million, a PE ratio of 17.87 and a beta of 0.57. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.00 and a 1-year high of $106.11. The company's fifty day moving average is $97.44 and its 200 day moving average is $87.56.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.38. The business had revenue of ($24.94) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.26 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 30.96%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 1,326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 136,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,653,100. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total value of $1,695,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,094,009.71. This represents a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,326 shares of company stock worth $3,403,470 over the last ninety days. 18.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.