Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Sees Heavy Put Option Buying

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 16,718 put options on the company. This is an increase of 36% compared to the average daily volume of 12,284 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TOST. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Toast from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Toast from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Toast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Toast from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Toast from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.11.

Toast Price Performance

TOST opened at $31.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.42. Toast has a 1 year low of $22.26 and a 1 year high of $39.67. The company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43 and a beta of 1.74.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 23.90% and a net margin of 7.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Toast will post 1.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Stephen Fredette sold 9,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $274,950.80. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 941,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,638,660.20. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Brian Elworthy sold 6,507 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $190,980.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 204,023 shares in the company, valued at $5,988,075.05. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 534,830 shares of company stock valued at $18,566,600 in the last ninety days. 10.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Toast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Toast by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,977,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,478,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111,009 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Toast by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,950,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,508,000 after buying an additional 89,316 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Toast by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,866,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,003,000 after purchasing an additional 465,006 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Toast by 25.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,321,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,561,000 after buying an additional 867,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its position in shares of Toast by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,817,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,176,000 after buying an additional 16,614 shares in the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toast Company Profile

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.