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

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Director William 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 transaction, the director owned 1,122,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,708,306.86. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOB traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $41.76. 194,496 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 295,950. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.88. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $42.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.07.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $145.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.02 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 11.79%. Equities analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is 4.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LOB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

About Live Oak Bancshares

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.