Toast (NYSE:TOST) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Barclays

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on TOST. Wall Street Zen lowered Toast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price objective on Toast in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Toast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Toast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Monday, June 1st. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.59.

Toast Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE TOST opened at $28.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.34 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.68 and a 200-day moving average of $28.47. Toast has a 1-year low of $22.26 and a 1-year high of $49.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toast news, CFO Elena Gomez sold 11,605 shares of Toast stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $334,804.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 185,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,341,577.50. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 6,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $191,765.95. Following the sale, the executive owned 69,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,519.10. The trade was a 8.68% 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 159,265 shares of company stock valued at $4,278,832 over the last three months. 10.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in Toast by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 13,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. BOKF NA grew its position in shares of Toast by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Toast by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,800,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Toast by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory increased its stake in shares of Toast by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 12,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More 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.