Toast (NYSE:TOST) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Toast (NYSE:TOST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Toast in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Toast in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Toast in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Toast from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Toast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.30.

Toast Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TOST opened at $36.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.60 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.85. Toast has a 1 year low of $27.65 and a 1 year high of $49.66.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.10). Toast had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Toast will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Toast

In other Toast news, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total value of $485,465.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 318,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,313,414. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Bell sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.38, for a total transaction of $529,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 226,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,615,682.96. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,196 shares of company stock worth $2,398,513 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Toast in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Toast during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Toast in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 173.3% during the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Toast by 57.1% in the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 82.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Toast

Toast, Inc operates a cloud-based digital technology platform for the restaurant industry in the United States, Ireland, and India. The company offers software products for restaurant operations and point of sale, such as Toast POS, Toast now, multi-location management, kitchen display system, Toast mobile order and pay, Toast catering and events, Toast invoicing, Toast tables, and restaurant retail; and hardware products, including Toast flex, Toast flex for guest, Toast go 2, Toast tap, kiosks, and Delphi by Toast.