First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 17,597 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC has reduced its stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. by 23.6%, now holding approximately 56,879 shares valued at about $4.29 million.
• Insider selling activity includes Director Joseph Melohn and Selig Zises, who sold a combined total of 18,326 shares recently, reflecting significant decreases in their ownership stakes.
• Esquire Financial has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.175 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 12.92%.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. trimmed its position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,879 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,597 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned 0.67% of Esquire Financial worth $4,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESQ shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $110.00 target price (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.50.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 11,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.90, for a total transaction of $1,098,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 137,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,771,914.30. The trade was a 7.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total value of $1,695,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,094,009.71. This trade represents a 44.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,326 shares of company stock worth $3,403,470 in the last three months. 18.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.01. 48,420 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 70,367. The company's 50 day moving average price is $97.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.84. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.88 and a 12 month high of $106.11. The company has a market cap of $828.47 million, a P/E ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.