Toast Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TOST)

Key Points

• Toast saw unusually heavy options activity on Friday, with traders buying 22,162 put options, about 36% above normal volume. That suggests some market participants were positioning for downside risk.
• Shares of TOST fell to $22.94 in trading, near the stock’s 52-week low of $22.26. The company also remains well below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain generally positive but have trimmed price targets after Toast recently missed earnings estimates, even though revenue topped expectations and grew 22% year over year. The stock currently carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a target of $37.84.

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 22,162 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 36% compared to the typical volume of 16,325 put options.

Toast Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TOST traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,165,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,498,474. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28 and a beta of 1.81. Toast has a 52 week low of $22.26 and a 52 week high of $49.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.25.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. Toast had a return on equity of 20.86% and a net margin of 6.39%.Toast's quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toast announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 7,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $190,898.91. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 920,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,120,597.15. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $352,595.97. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,414,600.47. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 39,783 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,917 in the last ninety days. 12.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Toast by 25.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,321,437 shares of the company's stock worth $114,561,000 after buying an additional 867,509 shares in the last quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in shares of Toast in the first quarter worth about $265,000. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast in the first quarter worth about $3,844,000. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Toast by 214.9% in the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 121,208 shares of the company's stock worth $3,213,000 after buying an additional 82,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P lifted its position in shares of Toast by 31.4% in the first quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 162,251 shares of the company's stock worth $4,301,000 after buying an additional 38,805 shares in the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TOST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Toast from $47.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 price objective on Toast in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Toast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens set a $42.00 price objective on Toast in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.84.

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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