Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 312,077 Shares of Toast, Inc. $TOST

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Toast stake by 47.4%, purchasing 312,077 shares to bring its holdings to 970,799 shares, worth approximately $27 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.91% of Toast.
• Toast reported strong quarterly revenue growth of 23.1% to $1.91 billion, exceeding estimates, but its adjusted EPS of $0.26 missed the $0.32 consensus forecast.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $38.62, although valuation concerns and recent executive share sales remain potential risks.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) by 47.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 970,799 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 312,077 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.19% of Toast worth $27,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toast by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,157,955 shares of the company's stock worth $538,259,000 after purchasing an additional 157,394 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Toast by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,372,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $368,332,000 after buying an additional 653,487 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Toast by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,820,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,729,000 after purchasing an additional 282,282 shares during the period. XN LP raised its holdings in Toast by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. XN LP now owns 8,988,386 shares of the company's stock worth $319,178,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Toast by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,675,056 shares of the company's stock worth $307,214,000 after purchasing an additional 169,230 shares during the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Aman Narang sold 124,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $4,395,087.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 175,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,191,912.82. This represents a 41.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 9,146 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total value of $263,862.10. Following the transaction, the president owned 931,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,872,303.65. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 333,373 shares of company stock worth $10,388,372 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.03% of the company's stock.

Toast News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Toast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raise price targets: BMO Capital Markets lifted its Toast price target to $40, while Needham and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also expressed expectations for meaningful appreciation. These calls reinforce the bullish case following Toast’s growth and improving profitability. BMO Capital Markets Raises Toast Price Target Needham Forecasts Toast Price Appreciation Keefe Bruyette Woods Toast Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: AI and partnership momentum: A report highlights Toast’s AI initiatives and relationships with Google and hotel operators as potential catalysts for expanding its addressable market and strengthening the long-term growth story. Toast AI, Google, and Hotel Partnership Report
• Positive Sentiment: Options activity signals bullish positioning: High trading volume in Toast call options suggests some traders are positioning for additional upside, although options activity is a market signal rather than a change in fundamentals. Toast High Call Option Volume
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed quarterly results: Toast exceeded revenue expectations, reporting $1.91 billion, up 23.1% year over year, but adjusted earnings per share fell short of consensus estimates. The revenue growth supports the bull case, while the earnings miss raises questions about execution and near-term margins. Toast Second Quarter Sales Report
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns: A Seeking Alpha analysis recommended trimming the position, arguing that Toast’s valuation could become difficult to justify if growth or profitability slows. This is a risk after the stock’s recent rally. Toast Valuation Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Executives sell shares: CEO Aman Narang sold approximately $4.9 million of Toast stock, while the CFO and CRO also sold shares. Because the transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, they may reflect scheduled diversification rather than diminished confidence, but the volume can still weigh on sentiment.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TOST opened at $34.47 on Monday. Toast, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.26 and a 52-week high of $46.11. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $28.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.86. The firm has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.19 and a beta of 1.72.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Toast had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 23.90%. The company's revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Toast, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TOST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Toast from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Toast from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Toast from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.62.

Toast Company Profile

Toast, Inc NYSE: TOST is a technology company that builds a cloud-based platform for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Toast offers integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems and a suite of software and hardware designed to streamline front-of-house and back-of-house operations. The company went public in 2021 and has positioned itself as a vertically integrated provider for the restaurant industry.

Toast's product portfolio includes touchscreen POS terminals and handheld order-and-pay devices, kitchen display systems, and peripherals tailored for high-volume foodservice environments.

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