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

Key Points

• Toast has been upgraded to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, moving up from a previous "hold" rating.
• Jefferies Financial Group and Truist Financial have also raised their price targets on Toast to $54.00 and $50.00, respectively, reinforcing the positive outlook on the stock.
• Despite the upgrades, Toast shares are currently down 1.9%, trading around $40.00, with a 52-week price range between $25.96 and $49.66.

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

TOST has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Toast in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Toast from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.54.

Toast Trading Up 0.7%

TOST stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.24. The stock had a trading volume of 6,036,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,916,943. Toast has a 52 week low of $26.05 and a 52 week high of $49.66. The stock's 50 day moving average is $44.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.51. The firm has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 114.14 and a beta of 2.00.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last released 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.02 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 7,647 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $325,685.73. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 889,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,863,234.03. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,829 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $588,977.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 302,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,883,389.82. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 88,342 shares of company stock valued at $3,804,710 in the last three months. 12.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 331.0% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 8,601,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,606,245 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 14,258.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,474,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,587,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,317 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Toast in the second quarter valued at about $219,324,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 108.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,887,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $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 shares of Toast by 17.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,454,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $777,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,490,686 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company's stock.

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.