Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys Shares of 4,176 Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,818,000 after purchasing an additional 21,833 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at $954,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $926,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 9.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,655,000 after purchasing an additional 17,333 shares during the period. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $570,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Esquire Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,805,878.77. This trade represents a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ opened at $77.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $646.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.06 and its 200-day moving average is $58.46. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $44.45 and a one year high of $80.00.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 12.07%.

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.