Toast (NYSE:TOST) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Toast shares gapped down pre-market from $29.38 to an opening price of $25.20 and last traded around $24.44 on heavy volume (5,997,707 shares).
• Analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus with a $39.24 average target despite mixed ratings and price targets (ranging roughly $26–$60); the company reported an EPS miss ($0.16 vs. $0.24) while revenue rose 22% to $1.63 billion.
• Insiders have been selling (39,783 shares, ~$1.04M in the past three months) even as institutional ownership is high at about 82.91%, with large stakes held by firms like AllianceBernstein, Jennison, Norges Bank and ValueAct.

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $29.38, but opened at $25.20. Toast shares last traded at $24.4410, with a volume of 5,997,707 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TOST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $39.00 price objective on Toast in a report on Monday, February 16th. Loop Capital started coverage on Toast in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Evercore raised Toast from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded Toast from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Toast from $60.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.24.

Toast Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.77. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a PE ratio of 46.48 and a beta of 1.81.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. Toast had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 5.56%.The company's revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toast declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other Toast news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 3,664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $95,960.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 243,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,380,983.98. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 6,438 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $168,611.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 146,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,839,925.42. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 39,783 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,917 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TOST. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Toast by 2,432.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,215,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,957,000 after buying an additional 7,891,383 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Toast by 74.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,000,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $547,670,000 after buying an additional 6,398,674 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the fourth quarter valued at $202,808,000. ValueAct Holdings L.P. increased its position in shares of Toast by 135.9% in the fourth quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 8,015,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,622,000 after buying an additional 4,618,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Toast by 7.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,428,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,768,256,000 after buying an additional 3,351,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

About Toast

Toast, Inc NYSE: TOST is a technology company that builds a cloud-based platform for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Toast offers integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems and a suite of software and hardware designed to streamline front-of-house and back-of-house operations. The company went public in 2021 and has positioned itself as a vertically integrated provider for the restaurant industry.

Toast's product portfolio includes touchscreen POS terminals and handheld order-and-pay devices, kitchen display systems, and peripherals tailored for high-volume foodservice environments.

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