Toast (NYSE:TOST) Shares Down 6% on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Toast (NYSE:TOST) shares dropped **6%** after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a **buy** to a **hold** rating, with shares trading as low as **$38.86**.
• Despite the downgrade, Toast has a **consensus** rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of **$46.30**, supported by fifteen analysts rating it a buy.
• CEO Aman Narang recently sold **1,719 shares** at an average price of **$48.38**, signaling potential insider selling amid stock fluctuations, with insiders collectively selling **88,342 shares** in the past three months.

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 6% on Monday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $38.86 and last traded at $38.67. Approximately 3,809,020 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 7,392,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.13.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on TOST. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Toast from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Toast in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Toast in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul D. Bell sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.38, for a total transaction of $529,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 226,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,615,682.96. This 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 the SEC website. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 1,427 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total transaction of $69,038.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 63,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,062,357.24. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 88,342 shares of company stock valued at $3,804,710 in the last 90 days. 12.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Toast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position 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 worth $380,978,000 after buying an additional 6,606,245 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Toast by 14,258.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,474,443 shares of the company's stock worth $181,587,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,317 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Toast during the 2nd quarter worth $219,324,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Toast by 108.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,887,409 shares of the company's stock worth $349,333,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100,104 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,490,686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company's stock.

Toast Trading Down 5.3%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.69. The company has a market cap of $19.86 billion, a PE ratio of 114.53 and a beta of 2.00.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.02 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.