Toast Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:TOST)

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 18,787 call options on the company. This is an increase of 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,105 call options.

Toast Price Performance

Shares of TOST stock traded up $0.67 on Friday, reaching $28.00. 7,866,314 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,356,585. Toast has a one year low of $13.77 and a one year high of $29.92. The company has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.10 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.16 and a 200-day moving average of $24.67.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.04. Toast had a negative net margin of 3.10% and a negative return on equity of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. Toast’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Toast will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Stephen Fredette sold 8,057 shares of Toast stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $225,757.14. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 2,152,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,311,424.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, President Stephen Fredette sold 8,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $225,757.14. Following the transaction, the president now owns 2,152,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,311,424.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher P. Comparato sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total transaction of $2,388,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 112,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,964.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 804,707 shares of company stock valued at $20,382,344. 13.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Toast in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Toast in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Toast during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TOST. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Toast in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Toast from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Toast in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Toast from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Toast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.33.

Toast Company Profile

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.