Walleye Capital LLC Buys New Stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 39,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $22,278,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $43,261,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 160,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after acquiring an additional 36,525 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,496,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,955,000. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total value of $349,524.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,708,306.86. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $256,688.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $509,588.80. This trade represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of LOB opened at $43.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22 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.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 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 business had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Live Oak Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.20.

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.