Zacks Research Upgrades Toast (NYSE:TOST) to Strong-Buy

Toast (NYSE:TOST) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

TOST has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Toast from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Toast from $47.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Toast from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Toast in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Toast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.84.

Toast Price Performance

NYSE:TOST opened at $24.53 on Tuesday. Toast has a one year low of $22.26 and a one year high of $49.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.81.

Toast declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other news, President Stephen Fredette sold 7,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $190,898.91. Following the transaction, the president owned 920,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,120,597.15. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $352,595.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 54,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,414,600.47. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,783 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,917. 12.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 13,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 2.3% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 13,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 4.5% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 0.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 1.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

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.