Toast (NYSE:TOST) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $23.73, but opened at $25.18. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Toast shares last traded at $26.25, with a volume of 6,618,399 shares.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on TOST. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Toast from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Toast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Toast in a research report on Monday, March 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Toast from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Toast from $22.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.35.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In related news, President Stephen Fredette sold 2,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total value of $53,164.80. Following the transaction, the president now owns 2,835,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,356,760.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, President Stephen Fredette sold 2,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total value of $53,164.80. Following the transaction, the president now owns 2,835,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,356,760.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.24, for a total transaction of $2,524,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 22,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,409.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 180,510 shares of company stock valued at $4,381,885 in the last 90 days. 13.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Toast by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 43,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Toast by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 16,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Toast by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 26,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Toast by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Toast by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 155,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Toast Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.57. The company has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a PE ratio of -52.59 and a beta of 1.77.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.15). Toast had a negative net margin of 6.36% and a negative return on equity of 21.77%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.16) EPS. Toast’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post -0.22 EPS for the current year.

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.