Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 420,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,407,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 5.05% of Esquire Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 322.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 7,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $534,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Esquire Financial by 8.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 144,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after buying an additional 11,345 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ opened at $75.06 on Friday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $44.45 and a one year high of $90.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.84 and its 200-day moving average is $74.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $632.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.78.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. Analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total value of $124,134.73. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total transaction of $1,551,800.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Esquire Financial 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.