Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Stock

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 1.82% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ESQ traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.57. The company had a trading volume of 18,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,751. Esquire Financial has a 12-month low of $44.45 and a 12-month high of $80.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.94.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 62,601 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,878.77. This trade represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESQ. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 566,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,909,000 after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,487,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,655,000 after acquiring an additional 17,333 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Esquire Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after purchasing an additional 11,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Company 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.