Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Toast's Stock Rating Upgraded: Wall Street Zen upgraded Toast (NYSE:TOST) from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, reflecting positive market sentiment.
• Target Price Adjustments: Analysts from Needham & Company and Morgan Stanley raised their target prices for Toast to $60.00 and $54.00 respectively, indicating strong growth expectations.
• Revenue Growth: Toast reported a revenue increase of 24.8% year-over-year, with $1.55 billion for the quarter, despite missing EPS estimates.

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Toast from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Toast in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 target price on Toast in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.30.

Toast Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:TOST traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,239,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,274,574. The firm has a market cap of $18.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.60 and a beta of 1.94. Toast has a 1 year low of $27.65 and a 1 year high of $49.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.78.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. Toast had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 14.19%. Toast's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Toast news, Director Paul D. Bell sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.38, for a total value of $529,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 226,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,615,682.96. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 9,054 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total value of $321,960.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 149,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,318,780.32. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,196 shares of company stock valued at $2,398,513 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Toast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Toast by 126.0% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,766 shares of the company's stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 12,693 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the second quarter worth about $209,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Toast by 399.7% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 40,041 shares of the company's stock worth $1,773,000 after acquiring an additional 32,028 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Toast by 1,585.0% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,378 shares of the company's stock worth $858,000 after acquiring an additional 18,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marex Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the second quarter worth about $465,000. 82.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toast Company Profile

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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