Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Toast in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Toast from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down from $44.00) on shares of Toast in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Toast from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.23.

Toast Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TOST traded down $2.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $37.68. 9,872,756 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,186,769. The company has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -3,764.44, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.98. Toast has a 1 year low of $20.57 and a 1 year high of $44.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $38.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.44.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Toast had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 1.54%. Equities analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toast news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 653 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.63, for a total value of $25,878.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 209,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,290,833.78. This trade represents a 0.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 1,068 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $65,177,717.28. This represents a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 339,564 shares of company stock valued at $13,577,845. Insiders own 13.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TOST. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 93.4% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 1.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 28,151 shares of the company's stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 2,731.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 95,971 shares of the company's stock worth $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 92,581 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toast during the third quarter worth $1,277,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 2,889.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,829,995 shares of the company's stock worth $108,427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,701,893 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

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.