Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Toast (NYSE:TOST)

Toast (NYSE:TOST)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 24.68% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Toast from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point started coverage on Toast in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Toast in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target (down previously from $44.00) on shares of Toast in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Toast from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toast currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Toast Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of Toast stock opened at $40.10 on Thursday. Toast has a 52 week low of $20.49 and a 52 week high of $44.12. The company has a market capitalization of $18.89 billion, a PE ratio of -308.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.30.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). Toast had a negative return on equity of 3.84% and a negative net margin of 1.05%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other news, Director David Yuan sold 189,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.01, for a total transaction of $8,162,652.85. Following the sale, the director now owns 198,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,551,635.29. The trade was a 48.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 1,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.63, for a total transaction of $42,324.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,644,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,177,717.28. The trade was a 0.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 339,564 shares of company stock valued at $13,577,845. Corporate insiders own 13.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Toast by 120.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 692 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Toast in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Toast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 82.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toast Company Profile

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.