Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $8.00, but opened at $8.30. Joby Aviation shares last traded at $9.11, with a volume of 6,421,945 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on JOBY. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Joby Aviation from $10.50 to $9.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Joby Aviation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Joby Aviation in a research report on Monday, September 30th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Joby Aviation in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Joby Aviation in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.35.

Joby Aviation Trading Up 14.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.01 and a beta of 1.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.77 and its 200-day moving average is $5.45.

Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $0.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.06 million. Joby Aviation had a negative return on equity of 51.76% and a negative net margin of 42,844.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. Analysts forecast that Joby Aviation, Inc. will post -0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Joeben Bevirt sold 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.85, for a total value of $1,212,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,674,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,470,228.90. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gregory Bowles sold 7,748 shares of Joby Aviation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.08, for a total value of $62,603.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,235 shares in the company, valued at $236,218.80. This trade represents a 20.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 535,526 shares of company stock worth $2,745,708 over the last 90 days. 32.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Joby Aviation

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JOBY. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Joby Aviation by 179.5% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 124,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 79,896 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its stake in Joby Aviation by 1,018.5% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 677,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,000 after acquiring an additional 616,579 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Joby Aviation by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 548,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after acquiring an additional 115,483 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Joby Aviation by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,659,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,776,000 after purchasing an additional 2,889,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Joby Aviation by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 20,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the period. 45.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Joby Aviation

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.