Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Breaks Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) shares crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.00 and traded as high as $34.66. Toast shares last traded at $33.3920, with a volume of 11,383,493 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Toast from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Toast from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Toast from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Toast from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.11.

Toast Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a PE ratio of 42.81 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.39.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.06). Toast had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 23.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post 1.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Toast news, CEO Aman Narang sold 124,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $4,395,087.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 175,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,191,912.82. This represents a 41.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 16,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $570,851.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,974 shares in the company, valued at $5,963,092.46. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 520,550 shares of company stock valued at $18,096,931. Corporate insiders own 10.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toast

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its stake in Toast by 138.8% in the second quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 264,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,807,000 after purchasing an additional 153,928 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Toast during the second quarter worth approximately $54,320,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Toast by 120.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC now owns 63,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after buying an additional 34,831 shares during the last quarter. Keenan Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,047,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Toast by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 970,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,008,000 after buying an additional 312,077 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

About Toast

Toast, Inc (NYSE:TOST) provides a cloud-based technology platform designed for restaurants. Its integrated system combines point-of-sale software and hardware with payment processing, helping restaurants manage sales, orders, menus, guest interactions and day-to-day operations from a unified platform.

The company offers products and services including online ordering, delivery management, digital ordering and payment tools, restaurant websites, gift cards, loyalty programs, marketing, labor management, payroll, inventory management, reporting and analytics.