The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Price

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group has lowered its price target for Toast (NYSE:TOST) from $51.00 to $41.00, while maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock, indicating a potential upside of 14.97% from its previous close.
• Despite the downgrade, the consensus rating for Toast among analysts remains a "Moderate Buy," with an average price target of $45.35, backed by 15 buy ratings and 11 hold ratings.
• Insider sales included CEO Aman Narang selling 13,652 shares at an average price of $35.56, which reflects a 4.11% decrease in his ownership stake.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $51.00 to $41.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.97% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on TOST. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Toast from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Toast from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Toast in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.35.

Toast Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of TOST stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $35.66. 4,290,072 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,542,909. The company has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a PE ratio of 104.78 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.88. Toast has a 52 week low of $27.65 and a 52 week high of $49.66.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,652 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total transaction of $485,465.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 318,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,313,414. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 6,530 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total value of $232,206.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 69,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,486,781.92. This trade represents a 8.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,196 shares of company stock worth $2,398,513. Company insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toast

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Toast by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,411,722 shares of the company's stock worth $1,966,995,000 after purchasing an additional 466,138 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted 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 buying an additional 3,490,686 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Toast by 7.5% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,520,360 shares of the company's stock worth $514,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082,958 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Toast by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,212,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,039,000 after purchasing an additional 245,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Toast by 331.0% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 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.

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