Zacks Research Downgrades Toast (NYSE:TOST) to Hold

Toast (NYSE:TOST) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

TOST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on Toast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Toast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Toast from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Toast in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.41.

Toast Price Performance

Shares of TOST stock opened at $28.58 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.97 and a beta of 1.74. Toast has a 12 month low of $22.26 and a 12 month high of $49.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Aman Narang sold 14,365 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $414,430.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 70,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,032,511.35. This represents a 16.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 11,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total value of $334,804.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 185,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,341,577.50. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 156,115 shares of company stock valued at $4,184,238 over the last 90 days. 10.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Toast by 2,432.8% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,215,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,957,000 after acquiring an additional 7,891,383 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,808,000. ValueAct Holdings L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 135.9% during the fourth quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 8,015,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,622,000 after buying an additional 4,618,077 shares during the last quarter. XN LP boosted its position in shares of Toast by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. XN LP now owns 8,988,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,178,000 after buying an additional 3,029,856 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Toast by 36.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,977,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,478,000 after buying an additional 2,111,009 shares during the period. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Toast Company Profile

Toast, Inc (NYSE: TOST) is a technology company that builds a cloud-based platform for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Toast offers integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems and a suite of software and hardware designed to streamline front-of-house and back-of-house operations. The company went public in 2021 and has positioned itself as a vertically integrated provider for the restaurant industry.

Toast’s product portfolio includes touchscreen POS terminals and handheld order-and-pay devices, kitchen display systems, and peripherals tailored for high-volume foodservice environments.