Investors Buy High Volume of Toast Put Options (NYSE:TOST)

Key Points

• Toast saw unusually heavy put-option activity, with investors purchasing 16,718 put options—36% above the average daily volume of 12,284.
• Shares fell $0.51 to $31.43, while the company’s latest quarterly results showed revenue of $1.91 billion and 23.1% year-over-year growth, but EPS of $0.26 missed analysts’ $0.32 estimate.
• Analysts remain generally bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus, an average price target of $39.11, and 17 Buy ratings versus 11 Holds; insiders, however, sold $18.6 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 16,718 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 36% compared to the average daily volume of 12,284 put options.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TOST traded down $0.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.43. The stock had a trading volume of 12,867,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,848,354. Toast has a one year low of $22.26 and a one year high of $39.67. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $32.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.44. The stock has a market cap of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 40.30 and a beta of 1.74.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.06). Toast had a return on equity of 23.90% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Toast will post 1.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Toast from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Toast from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Toast in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Toast from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Toast from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.11.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other Toast news, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 7,623 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.19, for a total transaction of $230,138.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 77,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,337,430.56. This trade represents a 8.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 9,368 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction of $274,950.80. Following the sale, the president directly owned 941,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,638,660.20. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 534,830 shares of company stock worth $18,566,600 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Toast by 2.5% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,748 shares of the company's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in Toast by 4.0% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 11,086 shares of the company's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Hickory Point Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Toast by 10.0% during the third quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust now owns 5,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its position in shares of Toast by 16.9% in the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 3,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 15.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,985 shares of the company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Toast

Toast, Inc NYSE: TOST provides a cloud-based technology platform designed for restaurants. Its integrated system combines point-of-sale software and hardware with payment processing, helping restaurants manage sales, orders, menus, guest interactions and day-to-day operations from a unified platform.

The company offers products and services including online ordering, delivery management, digital ordering and payment tools, restaurant websites, gift cards, loyalty programs, marketing, labor management, payroll, inventory management, reporting and analytics.

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