Toast (NYSE:TOST) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Toast (NYSE:TOST) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on TOST. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Toast in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Toast from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a report on Monday, February 16th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Toast from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.84.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of Toast stock opened at $24.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.81. Toast has a 52-week low of $22.26 and a 52-week high of $49.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.40.

Toast announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Toast

In related news, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 6,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $168,611.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 146,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,839,925.42. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 7,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $190,898.91. Following the sale, the president owned 920,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,120,597.15. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 39,783 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,917 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Toast

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Toast by 1,555.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 16,379 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Toast by 24.0% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 81,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after buying an additional 15,774 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Toast by 2.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,212,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,039,000 after buying an additional 245,276 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in Toast during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,479,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Toast by 24.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,030,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,619,000 after buying an additional 203,404 shares during the period. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Toast Company Profile

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.