Insider Selling: Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Director Sells $361,872.00 in Stock

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Director William Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total transaction of $361,872.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,114,126 shares in the company, valued at $47,996,548.08. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of LOB opened at $42.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.87. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $44.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.16.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 12.68%.The company had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on LOB. Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Live Oak Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $143,588,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,702,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,835,000 after purchasing an additional 17,181 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 3.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,593,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,685,000 after purchasing an additional 54,750 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,946,000 after purchasing an additional 63,325 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,261,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, and operates through its subsidiary Live Oak Banking Company. Founded in 2008, the company leverages a branchless, technology-driven platform to deliver specialty lending and deposit products across the United States. Live Oak Bancshares completed its initial public offering in February 2018 and trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol LOB.

The company’s primary focus is on originating and servicing commercial loans for small businesses in select industry verticals.