Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Toast (NYSE:TOST) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on TOST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Toast in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Toast from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Toast from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Toast from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Toast in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.12.

Toast Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:TOST opened at $30.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.36 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.91. Toast has a twelve month low of $22.26 and a twelve month high of $39.72.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Toast had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 23.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Toast will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other Toast news, CFO Elena Gomez sold 16,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $570,851.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,963,092.46. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 124,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $4,395,087.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 175,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,191,912.82. The trade was a 41.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 522,533 shares of company stock valued at $18,172,786. 10.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bayban bought a new position in shares of Toast in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Toast in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Toast in the second quarter worth $31,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Toast by 172.0% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Toast by 213.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

About Toast

Toast, Inc (NYSE:TOST) provides a cloud-based technology platform designed for restaurants and other food-service businesses. Its platform combines point-of-sale hardware and software with tools for order management, payments, menu management, reporting and business operations.

The company also offers products and services that support employee management, payroll, inventory, scheduling, online ordering, delivery, gift cards, loyalty programs and guest engagement. Toast’s integrated approach is intended to help restaurants manage front-of-house and back-of-house activities through a single platform.

Toast was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.