Toast (NYSE:TOST) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Toast (NYSE:TOST) has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating analysts' caution about the stock's short-term prospects.
• Despite this downgrade, there are still multiple "buy" ratings from various brokerages, with Needham & Company increasing their price target from $50.00 to $60.00.
• The company reported quarterly earnings with a revenue increase of 24.8% year-over-year, though it missed earnings per share estimates by $0.10.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on TOST. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Toast from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.54.

Toast Price Performance

Shares of Toast stock opened at $41.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.89 and a 200 day moving average of $40.39. The firm has a market cap of $20.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.06 and a beta of 2.00. Toast has a 1 year low of $22.91 and a 1 year high of $49.66.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.55 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Stephen Fredette sold 1,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total transaction of $83,213.60. Following the sale, the president owned 890,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,097,774.84. This trade represents a 0.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 2,006 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total transaction of $97,050.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 141,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,834,303.94. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,054 shares of company stock worth $4,223,686. 12.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Toast

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Toast by 173.3% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 798 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its position in Toast by 57.1% during the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 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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