Toast Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:TOST)

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 18,787 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,105 call options.

Toast Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Toast stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.00. 7,866,314 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,356,585. Toast has a 1 year low of $13.77 and a 1 year high of $29.92. The firm has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.10 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.16 and its 200 day moving average is $24.67.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.04. Toast had a negative net margin of 3.10% and a negative return on equity of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Toast will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TOST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Toast from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush raised Toast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Toast in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Toast from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Toast in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other Toast news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 2,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.64, for a total transaction of $65,971.72. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 170,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,372,414.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 2,573 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.64, for a total value of $65,971.72. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 170,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,372,414.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 6,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.64, for a total transaction of $162,942.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,999,942.52. 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 ninety days. 13.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Toast

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Toast in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Toast in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Toast during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Toast in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. 82.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.