Toast (NYSE:TOST) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Toast (NYSE:TOST) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on TOST. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Toast in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Toast from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Toast from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on Toast in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

Toast Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of TOST opened at $28.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.34 and a beta of 1.74. Toast has a twelve month low of $22.26 and a twelve month high of $49.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.68 and a 200-day moving average of $28.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Toast news, CFO Elena Gomez sold 11,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $334,804.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 185,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,341,577.50. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 14,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total value of $414,430.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 70,451 shares in the company, valued at $2,032,511.35. This represents a 16.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 159,265 shares of company stock worth $4,278,832 in the last 90 days. 10.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Toast by 843.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,307,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168,539 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Toast by 285.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 288,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,237,000 after acquiring an additional 213,459 shares during the period. Capelight Capital Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,131,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Toast by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 59,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 39,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Toast by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 972,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,524,000 after purchasing an additional 57,512 shares during the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Toast

Here are the key news stories impacting Toast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs upgraded Toast (TOST) to Buy, citing new products and market expansion as drivers of longer-term growth. Toast upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs on new product and market expansion efforts
• Neutral Sentiment: Toast remains in focus after several insider sales were disclosed, including a recent sale by CRO Jonathan Vassil under a pre-arranged trading plan, which may add some caution but does not necessarily signal a change in business fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: A broader payments-industry article noted that bank efforts to own more of the debit-network infrastructure could reshape competition across merchant payments, an indirect theme for Toast’s competitive landscape. Fiserv’s Debit Network Talks Raise a Bigger Question for Visa and Mastercard (TOST)
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Toast (TOST) from Strong-Buy to Hold, which signals some near-term skepticism after the stock’s recent run. Zacks.com

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.