Toast, Inc. $TOST Stock Holdings Lifted by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Toast, Inc. by 7.5%, owning over 15.5 million shares valued at approximately $514 million.
• Research analysts have become increasingly optimistic about Toast, with analysts from DA Davidson and JPMorgan raising their price targets significantly, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock.
• Insiders, including the CFO and President, recently sold significant amounts of stock, totaling over $16 million in sales, indicating a potential change in confidence among company leadership.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,520,360 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,082,958 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.12% of Toast worth $514,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Toast by 16.3% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 177,797 shares of the company's stock worth $5,900,000 after acquiring an additional 24,875 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors boosted its stake in Toast by 57.8% in the first quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Toast by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 37,469 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 18,971 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Toast by 3.2% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,881,962 shares of the company's stock worth $95,595,000 after acquiring an additional 90,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Toast during the 1st quarter worth $305,000. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TOST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Toast in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Toast from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Toast from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Toast from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.54.

Toast Trading Up 3.1%

NYSE TOST traded up $1.3010 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.9010. 5,377,983 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,714,206. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.21. The company has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.12 and a beta of 2.01. Toast, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.91 and a 1-year high of $49.66.

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

Insider Activity at Toast

In related news, CFO Elena Gomez sold 34,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.56, for a total value of $1,454,275.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 139,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,931,033.92. This represents a 19.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 300,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 have sold a total of 405,554 shares of company stock worth $17,333,686 in the last ninety days. 12.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.