Esquire Financial (ESQ) Director Anthony Coelho Exercises Options

What Happened
Anthony Coelho, a director of Esquire Financial Holdings, exercised stock options to acquire 20,000 shares on 2026-08-07 at an exercise price of $12.50 per share (total $250,000). To cover the exercise price / tax liability, 1,902 shares were withheld/disposed (reported at $131.38/share, value $249,885). The filing also records the corresponding derivative being cancelled/converted (20,000 option units disposed at $0.00). Net shares received by Coelho from this transaction: 18,098 (20,000 acquired minus 1,902 withheld).

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-08-07; Form 4 filed 2026-08-10 (filed within required reporting period).
• Option exercise: 20,000 shares @ $12.50 = $250,000 (code M — exercise/conversion of derivative).
• Withholding/payment: 1,902 shares @ $131.38 = $249,885 disposed to cover exercise price/taxes (code F — tax withholding).
• Derivative disposition: 20,000 units @ $0.00 recorded as disposed (reflects option conversion/cancellation).
• Shares owned after transaction: not specified in the provided excerpt of the filing.
• Relevant footnotes from the filing: several restricted-stock vesting schedules are noted (F1–F6) and F7 states stock options are fully vested; code F indicates shares were withheld for tax/exercise obligations.

Context
This looks like a standard option exercise with share withholding (a cashless-style cover of exercise/tax obligations), not an open-market sale. The withheld shares essentially covered the $250K exercise cost (withholding value $249,885), so little net cash appears to have been paid. Such exercises are common and routine for insiders and do not by themselves indicate the insider’s view of the company’s stock.