Toast Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:TOST)

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 18,787 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,105 call options.

Toast Price Performance

Shares of TOST stock opened at $28.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.17 and a 200-day moving average of $24.69. Toast has a one year low of $13.77 and a one year high of $29.92. The company has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.00 and a beta of 1.75.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Toast had a negative return on equity of 11.27% and a negative net margin of 3.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Toast will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Toast from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush raised shares of Toast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho raised Toast from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Stephen Fredette sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.64, for a total value of $97,688.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 2,847,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,005,156.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.64, for a total transaction of $97,688.40. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 2,847,315 shares in the company, valued at $73,005,156.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher P. Comparato sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.35, for a total transaction of $2,435,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,924,605.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 804,707 shares of company stock worth $20,382,344 over the last 90 days. 13.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Toast during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Toast during the second quarter worth $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Toast in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Toast in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Toast Company Profile

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.