Toast (NYSE:TOST) Earns "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Toast (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on TOST. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Toast from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BNP Paribas downgraded Toast from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Toast from $27.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Toast from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Toast in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.23.

Toast Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of TOST stock traded down $2.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.68. 9,872,756 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,186,769. The firm has a market cap of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -3,764.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.44. Toast has a fifty-two week low of $20.57 and a fifty-two week high of $44.12.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). Toast had a return on equity of 1.54% and a net margin of 0.40%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Toast will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In related news, Director David Yuan sold 189,785 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 198,829 shares in the company, valued at $8,551,635.29. This trade represents a 48.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 653 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.63, for a total value of $25,878.39. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 209,206 shares in the company, valued at $8,290,833.78. This represents a 0.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Toast by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 38,632 shares of the company's stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 41,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 120.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 692 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. 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.