Toast (NYSE:TOST) Downgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein to Market Perform

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Toast from Outperform to Market Perform and cut its price target from $45 to $38, implying about 9.8% upside from the share price cited in the report.
• Despite the downgrade, analysts overall maintained a Moderate Buy consensus, with a consensus price target of $38.46; 16 analysts rated the stock Buy and 12 Hold.
• Toast’s latest quarterly revenue of $1.98 billion slightly beat expectations and rose 21.3% year over year, but EPS of $0.29 missed the $0.37 consensus estimate.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, FinViz reports. They presently have a $38.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $45.00. Sanford C. Bernstein's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.83% from the company's current price.

TOST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Toast from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Toast from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Toast from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Toast in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Toast from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.46.

Toast Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of TOST stock opened at $34.60 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $31.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.42. Toast has a twelve month low of $22.26 and a twelve month high of $38.64. The company has a market capitalization of $17.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.02 and a beta of 1.74.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.08). Toast had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 7.69%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Toast's revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Toast will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other Toast news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 6,507 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction of $190,980.45. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 204,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,988,075.05. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 9,368 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction of $274,950.80. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 941,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,638,660.20. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 195,933 shares of company stock valued at $6,608,185 in the last three months. Insiders own 10.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Toast

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Toast by 36.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,977,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,478,000 after buying an additional 2,111,009 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Toast in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,320,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Toast by 131.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,456,114 shares of the company's stock worth $68,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,021 shares during the period. Lead Edge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toast in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,632,000. Finally, Light Street Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Toast in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,480,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

About Toast

Toast, Inc. provides a cloud-based technology platform designed for restaurants. Its products combine point-of-sale software and hardware with payment processing, helping restaurants manage in-person transactions and day-to-day operations. The platform includes tools for online ordering, delivery, marketing, customer loyalty, payroll, and team management, alongside features for managing menus and restaurant operations. Restaurants can use Toast's products together or select services to fit their needs.

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