Toast (NYSE:TOST) General Counsel Brian Elworthy Sells 3,664 Shares

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) General Counsel Brian Elworthy sold 3,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $95,960.16. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 243,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,380,983.98. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Toast Price Performance

NYSE:TOST opened at $26.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.97 and a beta of 1.90. Toast, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.35 and a 1 year high of $49.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.31.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). Toast had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Toast, Inc. will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

Toast announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Toast

Here are the key news stories impacting Toast this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Loop Capital initiated coverage of Toast with a “Hold” rating, which removes an immediate buy catalyst and may cap near?term upside until clearer growth/profitability signals arrive. Loop Capital coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Toast has been heavily searched by investors (Zacks spotlight), which can increase short?term volume and volatility but doesn’t itself change fundamentals. Zacks: Investors Heavily Search
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior executives sold stock on April 2 (CEO Aman Narang, CFO Elena Gomez, President Stephen Fredette, General Counsel Brian Elworthy, and CRO Jonathan Vassil), collectively disposing of roughly $1.04M of shares at about $26.19 each. The CEO’s sale reduced his holding by ~19.95%; other insiders also trimmed positions. Clustered sales by top management can be perceived negatively by the market (signaling liquidity needs or reduced insider confidence), even if they stem from routine vesting/diversification; filings are available with the SEC. CEO SEC filing

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TOST. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Toast by 322.0% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 362,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,245,000 after buying an additional 276,803 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 602,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,986,000 after acquiring an additional 59,045 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Toast by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 138,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,988,000 after acquiring an additional 45,898 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Toast by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,042,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,047,000 after acquiring an additional 152,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Toast in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,891,000. Institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on TOST. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Toast from $43.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Toast from $47.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stephens set a $42.00 price target on Toast in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $39.00 price objective on Toast in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Toast from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.88.

Toast Company Profile

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.