Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes $657,000 Position in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $657,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd owned 0.10% of Esquire Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Delphi Management Inc. MA raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 2,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 58,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,522.59. This trade 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 owned by company insiders.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

Esquire Financial stock opened at $73.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $610.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.78. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.45 and a 12-month high of $90.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $80.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.91.

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

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.