Delphi Management Inc. MA Acquires 701 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Delphi Management Inc. MA lifted its position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 33.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,776 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA’s holdings in Esquire Financial were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 99.3% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 4,145 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $545,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 value of $1,551,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,501 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,522.59. This represents a 36.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,509.45. This represents a 44.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,427 shares of company stock worth $1,913,385. Insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Esquire Financial stock opened at $71.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $593.29 million, a PE ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.84. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $44.45 and a one year high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

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.