Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 74,917 Shares of Toast, Inc. $TOST

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Toast, Inc. by 55.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 74,917 shares, making their total holding worth approximately $6.98 million.
• A number of analysts have raised their price targets for Toast, with Canaccord Genuity and Morgan Stanley both setting their targets at $54.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock.
• Toast recently reported quarterly earnings, missing consensus estimates with an EPS of $0.13 while achieving revenue of $1.55 billion, slightly above analyst expectations.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) by 55.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,282 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 74,917 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Toast were worth $6,975,000 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. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Toast by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 120,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,007,000 after buying an additional 12,900 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Toast by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 234,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,776,000 after buying an additional 18,318 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Toast in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,473,000. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Toast by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,224,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,781,000 after buying an additional 21,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Toast in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,320,000. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toast news, Director Paul D. Bell sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.38, for a total value of $529,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 226,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,615,682.96. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total value of $12,780,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 216,156 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 405,554 shares of company stock worth $17,333,686. Company insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Toast Trading Up 3.1%

TOST traded up $1.3010 on Friday, reaching $43.9010. The stock had a trading volume of 5,377,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,714,206. Toast, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.91 and a fifty-two week high of $49.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.76 and a 200-day moving average of $40.20. The company has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.12 and a beta of 2.01.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Toast from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Toast in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.54.

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.