Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Posted by Francis Steltz on Aug 22nd, 2026

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB – Get Free Report)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $42.60, but opened at $40.55. Live Oak Bancshares shares last traded at $40.4550, with a volume of 2,982 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LOB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on LOB

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.51 and a 200 day moving average of $38.40.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 12.68%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’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 owned 1,122,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,708,306.86. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $509,588.80. The trade was a 33.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $143,588,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $55,546,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,278,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 655.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 687,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,339,000 after acquiring an additional 596,841 shares during the last quarter. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.