Toast (NYSE:TOST) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $44.00 to $45.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Toast traded as high as $45.56 and last traded at $44.90, with a volume of 2123927 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.87.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on TOST. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Toast from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Toast in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Toast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BNP Paribas set a $37.00 price objective on Toast and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Toast from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toast news, Director Christopher P. Comparato sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.21, for a total transaction of $2,394,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 179,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,134,400.36. This trade represents a 28.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 44,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.15, for a total value of $1,548,568.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 1,447,717 shares in the company, valued at $50,887,252.55. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 335,991 shares of company stock worth $11,614,520. Company insiders own 13.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Toast by 38.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 309,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,000 after acquiring an additional 85,171 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Toast in the 4th quarter worth $268,000. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Toast by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 41,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new position in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter valued at about $233,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Toast Stock Up 2.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,390.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.05.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Toast had a return on equity of 1.54% and a net margin of 0.40%. As a group, research analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.