Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock: Insider Gregory Seward Sells 5,000 Shares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) General Counsel Gregory Seward sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total transaction of $176,550.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 108,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,841,622.07. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LOB opened at $35.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.94. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.36 and a 52-week high of $44.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $175.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.50 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 12.22%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 16,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 117.2% in the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 4.4% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 5.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. 63.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.75.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is the parent company of Live Oak Bank, a digital-focused financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 2008, the company specializes in providing banking services to small and mid-sized businesses, with a particular emphasis on loans to owners of professional and industry-specific businesses.

Through Live Oak Bank, the company offers commercial lending, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, business deposits, treasury management and other financial services.