Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Bumped Up to Buy by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Toast (NYSE:TOST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Toast from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on Toast from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Toast from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Toast in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.46.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of TOST traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.66. The company had a trading volume of 8,130,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,757,159. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.43. Toast has a 1 year low of $22.26 and a 1 year high of $37.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09 and a beta of 1.74.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.08). Toast had a net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Toast will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other Toast news, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 85,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $3,099,075.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 69,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,564.44. This represents a 54.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 11,886 shares of Toast stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $348,854.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 171,957 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,937.95. This represents a 6.47% 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 sold a total of 202,818 shares of company stock worth $6,843,170 over the last quarter. 10.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TOST. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Toast by 138.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 264,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,807,000 after buying an additional 153,928 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the 2nd quarter worth $54,320,000. Keenan Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the 2nd quarter worth $31,047,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Toast by 120.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC now owns 63,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after buying an additional 34,831 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Toast by 47.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 970,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,008,000 after acquiring an additional 312,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Toast News

These are some of the TOST news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $40 from $38 and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling continued upside potential in the analyst’s view. Truist price target
• Negative Sentiment: Bernstein downgraded Toast to Market Perform from Outperform and cut its price target to $38 from $45. The more cautious rating and lower target may weigh on sentiment. Bernstein downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Director Susan Chapman-Hughes sold 6,885 shares for about $235,000, reducing her direct holdings by 47.38%. Insider sales can raise concern, although the filing did not give a reason for the transaction. SEC filing

Toast Company Profile

Toast, Inc. provides a cloud-based technology platform designed for restaurants. Its products combine point-of-sale software and hardware with payment processing, helping restaurants manage in-person transactions and day-to-day operations. The platform includes tools for online ordering, delivery, marketing, customer loyalty, payroll, and team management, alongside features for managing menus and restaurant operations. Restaurants can use Toast’s products together or select services to fit their needs.