Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Buys New Holdings in Toast, Inc. $TOST

Key Points

• Chesley Taft & Associates bought 57,600 Toast shares worth approximately $1.6 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 82.91% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 17 Buy ratings and 9 Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $38.62.
• Toast reported second-quarter revenue of $1.91 billion, up 23.1% year over year and above estimates, but earnings per share of $0.26 missed the $0.32 consensus. Insiders have also sold $10.4 million of shares over the past three months, largely under pre-arranged trading plans.

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 57,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,602,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TOST. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Toast by 1,555.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,432 shares of the company's stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 16,379 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Toast by 24.0% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 81,574 shares of the company's stock worth $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 15,774 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Toast by 2.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,212,889 shares of the company's stock worth $408,039,000 after purchasing an additional 245,276 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the second quarter worth $4,479,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Toast by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,030,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,619,000 after buying an additional 203,404 shares during the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TOST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Toast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Toast from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Toast from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Toast presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.62.

Toast Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of TOST stock opened at $34.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.19 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.44 and a 200 day moving average of $27.90. Toast, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.26 and a 52 week high of $46.11.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Toast had a return on equity of 23.90% and a net margin of 7.14%.The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Toast, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Toast News

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.

Insider Activity at Toast

In related news, CEO Aman Narang sold 124,542 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $4,395,087.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 175,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,191,912.82. The trade was a 41.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 108,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total transaction of $2,796,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 189,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,909,831.38. The trade was a 36.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 333,373 shares of company stock valued at $10,388,372 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.03% of the company's stock.

About Toast

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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