Anyone interested in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) should probably be aware that the Chief Banking Officer, Mark Moroz, recently divested US$257k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$42.08 each. That sale was 33% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Live Oak Bancshares

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Information & Digital Officer and Interim Information Security Officer of Bank, Renato Derraik, sold US$2.8m worth of shares at a price of US$37.83 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$42.46). We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was 95% of Renato Derraik's stake.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$130k for 3.60k shares. But they sold 91.81k shares for US$3.5m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Live Oak Bancshares shares, than buying. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like Live Oak Bancshares better if I see some big insider buys.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that Live Oak Bancshares insiders own 22% of the company, worth about US$439m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The Live Oak Bancshares Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought Live Oak Bancshares stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But since Live Oak Bancshares is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.