Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Shares Bought by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) by 99.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,321 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,145 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.10% of Esquire Financial worth $662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESQ. Ampfield Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Ampfield Management L.P. now owns 251,633 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,005,000 after acquiring an additional 24,773 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Esquire Financial by 161.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 14,521 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised 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 valued at $9,413,000 after purchasing an additional 11,345 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Esquire Financial by 322.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,308 shares of the company's stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 7,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter worth $545,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company's stock.

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Esquire Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ESQ traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.83. The company had a trading volume of 36,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,282. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.45 and a 12-month high of $90.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $639.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $80.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.41.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 31.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Esquire Financial's payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total transaction of $1,551,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,501 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,522.59. This trade represents a 36.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,132,149.03. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESQ has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James cut shares of Esquire Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.