Toast (NYSE:TOST) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $23.73, but opened at $25.18. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Toast shares last traded at $26.25, with a volume of 6,618,399 shares changing hands.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on TOST. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Toast from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Toast from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Toast from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI started coverage on Toast in a research report on Monday, March 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Toast from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Toast currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 2,272 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total transaction of $53,164.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 2,835,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,356,760.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 2,272 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total transaction of $53,164.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 2,835,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,356,760.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 100,000 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.24, for a total value of $2,524,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 22,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $579,409.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 180,510 shares of company stock worth $4,381,885. Insiders own 13.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Toast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Toast by 149.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,007,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,896,000 after buying an additional 7,191,595 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Toast during the fourth quarter valued at $76,699,000. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Toast in the fourth quarter valued at about $70,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Toast by 11.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,079,123 shares of the company's stock worth $657,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Toast by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 6,600,377 shares of the company's stock worth $120,523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,708,597 shares during the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toast Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a PE ratio of -52.59 and a beta of 1.77. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.57.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15). Toast had a negative return on equity of 21.77% and a negative net margin of 6.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post -0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.