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

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 18,787 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,105 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Toast in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wedbush raised Toast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.33.

Toast Stock Performance

TOST opened at $28.00 on Friday. Toast has a fifty-two week low of $13.77 and a fifty-two week high of $29.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.17 and a 200-day moving average of $24.69. The company has a market capitalization of $12.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.00 and a beta of 1.75.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Toast had a negative net margin of 3.10% and a negative return on equity of 11.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Toast will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In related news, President Stephen Fredette sold 8,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $225,757.14. Following the sale, the president now owns 2,152,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,311,424.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Toast news, Director Christopher P. Comparato sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.35, for a total transaction of $2,435,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,924,605.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 8,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $225,757.14. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 2,152,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,311,424.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 804,707 shares of company stock worth $20,382,344. Corporate insiders own 13.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TOST. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the second quarter valued at $618,000. Kampmann Melissa S. purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the second quarter valued at about $1,122,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Toast by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 35,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in Toast in the second quarter worth $333,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Toast during the 2nd quarter valued at about $236,000. 82.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Toast

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.