Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $10.00 target price on the stock.

JOBY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Joby Aviation from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $5.00 to $6.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Joby Aviation from $9.75 to $11.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Joby Aviation in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Joby Aviation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.90.

Joby Aviation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JOBY opened at $7.00 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $8.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.73. Joby Aviation has a 1-year low of $4.50 and a 1-year high of $10.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.99 and a beta of 2.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Joby Aviation

In related news, insider Kate Dehoff sold 6,903 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.43, for a total transaction of $51,289.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 202,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,502,910.68. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Didier Papadopoulos sold 7,692 shares of Joby Aviation stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $76,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,902 shares in the company, valued at $509,020. The trade was a 13.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,018,699 shares of company stock valued at $8,628,124. Company insiders own 32.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Joby Aviation

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toyota Motor Corp acquired a new stake in Joby Aviation during the 4th quarter worth about $640,259,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Joby Aviation by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 55,032,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,412,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281,161 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Joby Aviation by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,760,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,163,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,232 shares during the period. Uber Technologies Inc purchased a new position in Joby Aviation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,842,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Joby Aviation by 8.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. 52.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.