2,680 Shares in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ESQ. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $33,407,000. Ampfield Management L.P. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Ampfield Management L.P. now owns 251,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,005,000 after buying an additional 24,773 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 166,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,270,000 after buying an additional 23,998 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 387,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,825,000 after buying an additional 21,266 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 161.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,532,000 after buying an additional 14,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ESQ opened at $90.81 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.35. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.55 and a 52 week high of $92.50. The company has a market capitalization of $768.43 million, a P/E ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 0.51.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 31.58%. The firm had revenue of $33.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.71 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total value of $1,551,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,522.59. This represents a 36.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Waterhouse sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.87, for a total value of $251,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,263,058.13. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,473,610 over the last 90 days. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James downgraded Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

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.