Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald cut Live Oak Bancshares’ price target from $45 to $41 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying roughly 18% upside from the $34.64 share price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans cautious: the stock has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $42.50, with multiple firms recently lowering their targets.
• Live Oak reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, beating the $0.64 consensus estimate, while insiders have sold approximately $1.24 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's target price points to a potential upside of 18.36% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on LOB. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Live Oak Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.50.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

LOB opened at $34.64 on Wednesday. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $44.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 1.94. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.64.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The business 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 11.77%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Willam Williams, III sold 8,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total value of $361,872.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,114,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,996,548.08. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $256,688.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,588.80. This represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,654 shares of company stock valued at $1,240,814. Insiders own 22.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 98.9% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,080 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $128,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $266,000. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Through its principal subsidiary, Live Oak Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to small and middle-market businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs and individuals.

Live Oak Bank is known for its specialized lending model, including Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and financing for businesses in industries such as veterinary medicine, healthcare, agriculture, investment advisory and government contracting.

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