Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 521,684 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62,187 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 4.31% of Esquire Financial worth $60,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth $311,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 845.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in Esquire Financial by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 2,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $544,000. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $122.50.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Esquire Financial stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 96,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,159. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.00 and a 12 month high of $134.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93 and a beta of 0.36.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.23. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $61.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.93 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anthony Coelho sold 11,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.00, for a total transaction of $1,473,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 55,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,082,155. This represents a 17.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ari Kornhaber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.15, for a total value of $2,563,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,788,344.80. This trade represents a 16.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,600 shares of company stock worth $5,263,500. Corporate insiders own 13.90% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Profile

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. is the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, a community bank focused on serving the legal industry and small businesses. The bank offers commercial banking services, including business deposit accounts and lending, as well as payment-processing solutions. Esquire Bank provides financing to law firms and businesses connected to the legal sector, including litigation-related lending. It also serves small businesses with banking and working-capital solutions. Its specialized focus distinguishes it from banks serving a broader range of commercial customers.