Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Price Down 6% Following Analyst Downgrade

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) dropped 6% during trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $38.86 and last traded at $38.67. Approximately 3,809,020 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 7,392,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.13.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on TOST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Toast from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Toast from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Toast from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Toast in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul D. Bell sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.38, for a total value of $529,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 226,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,615,682.96. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 1,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total value of $83,213.60. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 890,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,097,774.84. This trade represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 88,342 shares of company stock valued at $3,804,710 in the last 90 days. 12.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toast

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Toast in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Toast in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Toast in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Toast by 173.3% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Toast by 57.1% in the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Toast Stock Down 5.3%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.14 and a 200-day moving average of $40.69. The firm has a market cap of $19.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.53 and a beta of 2.00.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Toast had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 14.19%. Toast’s revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Toast, Inc. will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

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.