Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 71,807 Shares of Toast, Inc. $TOST

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake in Toast by 71,807 shares (0.2%) during Q4 and now owns 44,692,350 shares—about 8.68% of the company valued at roughly $1.587 billion.
• Toast reported an EPS miss of $0.16 versus $0.24 expected despite revenue rising 22% to $1.63 billion; the stock trades near $28.56 with a $14.72 billion market cap and an average analyst target of $39.48 ("Moderate Buy").
• Insiders sold 46,030 shares (~$1.23 million) last quarter, including sales by the CEO and general counsel, while the board announced a share buyback program (the filing oddly shows a $0.00 repurchase authorization).

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,692,350 shares of the company's stock after selling 71,807 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.68% of Toast worth $1,587,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Toast in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Toast during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Toast by 123.5% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 943 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in Toast during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Toast during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

Toast Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of TOST stock opened at $28.56 on Friday. Toast, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.35 and a 12 month high of $49.66. The stock has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.90 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.02.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). Toast had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Toast, Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Toast announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TOST. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Toast from $57.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Stephens set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toast has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other Toast news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 3,664 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $95,960.16. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 243,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,380,983.98. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $352,595.97. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,414,600.47. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 46,030 shares of company stock valued at $1,231,451 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

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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