Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Toast (NYSE:TOST) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on TOST. Wall Street Zen lowered Toast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on Toast in a report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Toast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Toast from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Toast from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Toast Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of TOST stock opened at $28.82 on Tuesday. Toast has a 12-month low of $22.26 and a 12-month high of $49.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.68 and a 200-day moving average of $28.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.34 and a beta of 1.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 9,146 shares of the business’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 $263,862.10. Following the sale, the president owned 931,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,872,303.65. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 14,365 shares of the company’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 $414,430.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 70,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,032,511.35. This trade represents a 16.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 159,265 shares of company stock worth $4,278,832 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Toast by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,157,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,259,000 after purchasing an additional 157,394 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Toast by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,372,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,332,000 after buying an additional 653,487 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Toast by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,820,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,729,000 after buying an additional 282,282 shares in the last quarter. XN LP boosted its stake in shares of Toast by 50.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Toast by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,675,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,214,000 after buying an additional 169,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Toast News

Here are the key news stories impacting Toast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs upgraded Toast (TOST) to Buy, citing new products and market expansion as drivers of longer-term growth. Toast upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs on new product and market expansion efforts
• Neutral Sentiment: Toast remains in focus after several insider sales were disclosed, including a recent sale by CRO Jonathan Vassil under a pre-arranged trading plan, which may add some caution but does not necessarily signal a change in business fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: A broader payments-industry article noted that bank efforts to own more of the debit-network infrastructure could reshape competition across merchant payments, an indirect theme for Toast’s competitive landscape. Fiserv’s Debit Network Talks Raise a Bigger Question for Visa and Mastercard (TOST)
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Toast (TOST) from Strong-Buy to Hold, which signals some near-term skepticism after the stock’s recent run. Zacks.com

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.