Toast (NYSE:TOST) Shares Climb 4.8% – Should You Buy?

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) traded up 4.8% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $35.09 and last traded at $35.13. Approximately 2,311,479 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 10,856,212 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.52.

Toast News Summary

These are some of the TOST news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Great Harvest partnered with Toast to streamline operations across more than 150 bakery-cafés, deploying Toast’s point-of-sale, handheld and kitchen technologies. The deal adds a customer and could support Toast’s growth as the chain expands. Great Harvest partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $40 from $38 and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling continued upside potential in the analyst’s view. Truist price target
• Negative Sentiment: Bernstein downgraded Toast to Market Perform from Outperform and cut its price target to $38 from $45. The more cautious rating and lower target may weigh on sentiment. Bernstein downgrade

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on TOST. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Toast from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Toast from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Toast from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Toast from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Toast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.46.

Toast Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.43.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.08). Toast had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Toast, Inc. will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other Toast news, Director Susan Chapman-Hughes sold 6,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total transaction of $234,985.05. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,645 shares in the company, valued at $260,923.85. This trade represents a 47.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 4,600 shares of Toast stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $165,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 77,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,787,264. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 202,818 shares of company stock valued at $6,843,170 over the last ninety days. 10.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Triavera Capital LLC lifted its position in Toast by 6.4% during the third quarter. Triavera Capital LLC now owns 298,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,639,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in Toast by 24.1% during the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 50,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,468,000 after buying an additional 9,833 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Toast by 36.9% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 10,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Toast by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 2,070 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Toast by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 432,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,551,000 after buying an additional 27,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

About Toast

Toast, Inc. provides a cloud-based technology platform designed for restaurants. Its products combine point-of-sale software and hardware with payment processing, helping restaurants manage in-person transactions and day-to-day operations. The platform includes tools for online ordering, delivery, marketing, customer loyalty, payroll, and team management, alongside features for managing menus and restaurant operations. Restaurants can use Toast’s products together or select services to fit their needs.