Ethic Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Toast, Inc. $TOST

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Toast, Inc. by 137.1% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 12,559 shares, bringing its total holdings to 21,719 shares valued at approximately $744,000.
• Investment analysts view Toast positively, with several firms upgrading their ratings, and the average price target set at $45.54 based on a consensus of 15 "Buy" ratings and 11 "Hold" ratings.
• Toast's recent earnings report revealed $1.55 billion in revenue for the quarter, surpassing expectations, despite a miss on earnings per share which was reported at $0.13.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) by 137.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,719 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,559 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Toast were worth $744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Toast during the first quarter worth $34,000. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its stake in Toast by 57.1% during the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,100 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in Toast by 862.1% during the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Toast by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Toast by 227.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Toast in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Toast from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Toast in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.54.

Insider Activity at Toast

In other news, Director Paul D. Bell sold 12,500 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.38, for a total value of $529,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 226,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,615,682.96. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 300,000 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total transaction of $12,780,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 216,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,245.60. The trade was a 58.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 405,554 shares of company stock worth $17,333,686 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Toast Stock Performance

Toast stock traded up $1.3010 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.9010. 5,377,983 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,714,206. Toast, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.91 and a 12-month high of $49.66. The stock has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.12 and a beta of 2.01. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $44.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.20.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.10). Toast had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 4.07%.The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Toast, Inc. will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toast Profile

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.