Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stock Position in Toast, Inc. $TOST

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its Toast stake by 29.2% in the first quarter, adding 44,772 shares and bringing its holdings to 197,849 shares valued at approximately $5.25 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.91% of Toast.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Toast: Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy,” while the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $37.15.
• Toast reported quarterly revenue of $1.63 billion, up 21.9% year over year, but earnings per share of $0.20 missed the $0.28 consensus estimate. Company insiders sold $4.28 million worth of shares over the past 90 days, primarily to cover tax obligations from vested equity awards.

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) by 29.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 197,849 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 44,772 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Toast were worth $5,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TOST. BOKF NA raised its position in shares of Toast by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Toast by 0.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Toast by 1.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,857 shares of the company's stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory grew its position in Toast by 3.1% in the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 12,689 shares of the company's stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Toast by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 6,742 shares of the company's stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Toast news, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 6,647 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $191,765.95. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 69,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,519.10. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 14,365 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $414,430.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 70,451 shares in the company, valued at $2,032,511.35. This trade represents a 16.94% 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 sold a total of 159,265 shares of company stock worth $4,278,832 over the last 90 days. 10.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TOST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Toast from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Toast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.15.

Toast Stock Down 1.4%

TOST opened at $32.38 on Friday. Toast, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.26 and a 52 week high of $49.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.92. The firm has a market cap of $16.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.82 and a beta of 1.74.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.08). Toast had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 20.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. Toast's quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

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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