Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. by 23.6% during the first quarter, now holding 42,561 shares worth $3.2 million.
• Esquire Financial recently reported $1.38 earnings per share, meeting analyst expectations, with a projected EPS of 5.52 for the current fiscal year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.175, set to be distributed on September 2nd, representing an annual yield of 0.7%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,561 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,115 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.50% of Esquire Financial worth $3,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the first quarter worth $26,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $51,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 151.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total value of $476,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,813,805.38. This represents a 14.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 2.1%

ESQ stock opened at $99.44 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $96.35 and its 200 day moving average is $86.95. The stock has a market cap of $849.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35 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.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 30.96% and a return on equity of 18.87%. The business had revenue of ($24.94) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.26 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.

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