Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has raised its price target for Toast (NYSE: TOST) stock from $47.00 to $50.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.58% from its previous close.
• Twelve analysts have rated Toast stock, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $44.33.
• Toast reported quarterly earnings of $0.13 per share, missing estimates and showing a 24.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $47.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price points to a potential upside of 15.93% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on TOST. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Toast from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Toast from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Toast from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Toast in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.54.

Toast Trading Down 5.4%

NYSE:TOST traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.13. The stock had a trading volume of 9,038,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,326,806. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.85 and a beta of 2.01. Toast has a 52 week low of $22.91 and a 52 week high of $49.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul D. Bell sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.13, for a total value of $496,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 229,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,365,458.40. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 300,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 216,156 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,245.60. The trade was a 58.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 474,054 shares of company stock valued at $20,432,166 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Toast by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,945,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,457,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,352 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Toast by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 41,961,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,529,657,000 after buying an additional 785,641 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Toast by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,454,209 shares of the company's stock worth $777,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,490,686 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Toast by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,520,360 shares of the company's stock worth $514,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,958 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Toast by 331.0% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 8,601,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,606,245 shares during the period. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Toast

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.