Toast (NYSE:TOST) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• Toast, Inc.'s stock price gapped down prior to market opening, dropping from a previous close of $43.79 to an opening price of $41.78, with the last traded price at $41.74.
• Despite recent price drops, analysts remain optimistic, with several firms raising their price targets for Toast, resulting in an average target price of $45.54 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.13 for the last quarter, falling short of expectations, though revenue was up 24.8% year-over-year, totaling $1.55 billion.

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $43.79, but opened at $41.78. Toast shares last traded at $41.74, with a volume of 2,176,455 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TOST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Toast from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Toast from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Toast from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Toast has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.54.

Toast Stock Down 4.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.06 and a beta of 2.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $44.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.38.

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

Insider Activity

In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 7,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $325,685.73. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 889,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,863,234.03. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Kent Bennett sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total transaction of $418,975.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 534,167 shares in the company, valued at $23,043,964.38. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 105,554 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,686. Corporate insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TOST. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Toast by 800.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,922 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Toast by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 201,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,360,000 after purchasing an additional 11,307 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Toast by 303.1% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 34,378 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 25,850 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Toast by 1,801.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 487,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,754,000 after purchasing an additional 461,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Toast in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,684,000. 82.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.