Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) Shares Up 1.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Joby Aviation shares increased by 1.3% after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target from $5.00 to $7.00, although they maintain an underweight rating on the stock.
• Insiders, including Kate Dehoff and Paul Cahill Sciarra, sold a significant number of shares recently, indicating a 9.33% and 0.86% decrease in their positions, respectively.
• Institutional investors own 52.85% of Joby Aviation's stock, with significant investments made by companies like Toyota Motor Corp and Vanguard Group Inc.

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.3% on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $5.00 to $7.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Joby Aviation traded as high as $17.91 and last traded at $16.87. Approximately 15,131,604 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 19,833,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.66.

JOBY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $13.00 target price (up previously from $9.00) on shares of Joby Aviation in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Joby Aviation in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $7.00 target price (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Joby Aviation in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Joby Aviation in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Joby Aviation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Joby Aviation presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kate Dehoff sold 20,823 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total transaction of $284,650.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 202,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,765,112.92. This represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul Cahill Sciarra sold 500,001 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.38, for a total transaction of $6,190,012.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 57,328,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $709,721,370.42. This represents a 0.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,867,653 shares of company stock worth $19,256,442. 28.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Joby Aviation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JOBY. Toyota Motor Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Joby Aviation during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $640,259,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Joby Aviation by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,760,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,163,000 after buying an additional 6,388,232 shares in the last quarter. Uber Technologies Inc bought a new position in Joby Aviation during the fourth quarter valued at about $207,842,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Joby Aviation by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,208,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,015,000 after buying an additional 817,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its position in shares of Joby Aviation by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 7,205,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.85% of the company's stock.

Joby Aviation Trading Up 1.5%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.37. The firm has a market cap of $13.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.18 and a beta of 2.47.

Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.07. Joby Aviation had a negative return on equity of 63.27% and a negative net margin of 447,083.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.14) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Joby Aviation, Inc. will post -0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Joby Aviation Company Profile

Joby Aviation, Inc, a vertically integrated air mobility company, engages in building an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft optimized to deliver air transportation as a service. The company intends to build an aerial ridesharing service, as well as developing an application-based platform that will enable consumers to book rides.

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