Toast, Inc. $TOST Shares Bought by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC significantly increased its stake in Toast, Inc. by 98.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,607,758 shares, bringing its total ownership to about 3.24 million shares valued at over $107 million.
• Toast reported earnings of $0.13 per share, falling short of analysts' expectations, but its revenue of $1.55 billion exceeded estimates, marking a year-over-year growth of 24.8%.
• Several research analysts have reiterated a "buy" rating for Toast, with price targets ranging between $45 and $60, reflecting positive market sentiment despite recent performance fluctuations.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) by 98.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,241,144 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,607,758 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.65% of Toast worth $107,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TOST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Toast by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,945,584 shares of the company's stock worth $1,457,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471,352 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Toast by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 41,961,233 shares of the company's stock worth $1,529,657,000 after acquiring an additional 785,641 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Toast by 2.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 5,755,872 shares of the company's stock worth $190,922,000 after acquiring an additional 160,088 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Toast by 14,258.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,474,443 shares of the company's stock worth $181,587,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,317 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its stake in shares of Toast by 3.2% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 5,002,752 shares of the company's stock worth $165,941,000 after acquiring an additional 155,831 shares during the period. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TOST has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Toast from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Toast in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Toast from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Toast presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.54.

Toast Price Performance

NYSE TOST traded down $0.68 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.47. 8,254,923 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,319,520. The firm has a market cap of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.91 and a beta of 2.01. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $44.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.12. Toast, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.91 and a 12-month high of $49.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 1,427 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total value of $69,038.26. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 63,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,062,357.24. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 2,006 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total transaction of $97,050.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 141,263 shares in the company, valued at $6,834,303.94. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 393,054 shares of company stock worth $16,803,936. Insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Toast Company 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.