Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Director William Williams III Sells 8,400 Shares

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

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:LOB opened at $43.76 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.09. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $44.53. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.87.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 11.95%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LOB. TD Cowen increased their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Live Oak Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.20.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $22,278,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 160,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after buying an additional 36,525 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $8,496,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,955,000. 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.