Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Toast (NYSE:TOST)

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 34,061 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 113% compared to the typical volume of 15,980 call options.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TOST traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.26. 6,336,872 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,724,582. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.60 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.72. Toast has a twelve month low of $13.77 and a twelve month high of $27.00.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. Toast had a negative net margin of 6.36% and a negative return on equity of 21.77%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Toast will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Toast from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Toast from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America lowered shares of Toast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $22.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Toast from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Toast from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.20.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 224,900 shares of Toast stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.37, for a total transaction of $4,131,413.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 160,340 shares in the company, valued at $2,945,445.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Toast news, insider James Michael Matlock sold 5,804 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total value of $108,650.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,884 shares of the company's stock, valued at $821,508.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 224,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.37, for a total transaction of $4,131,413.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 160,340 shares in the company, valued at $2,945,445.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 364,847 shares of company stock worth $7,519,492. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toast

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TOST. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Toast by 105.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 691,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,943,000 after buying an additional 353,903 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Toast by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,079,123 shares of the company's stock valued at $657,032,000 after buying an additional 3,494,579 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Toast by 101.5% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,345,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,829,000 after buying an additional 1,181,409 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC purchased a new position in Toast in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $24,647,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Toast in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $936,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

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.