The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Toast (NYSE:TOST) Stock Price

Toast (NYSE:TOST) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $43.00 to $31.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.70% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Toast in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 price target on Toast in a research report on Friday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Toast from $57.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Toast from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $39.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research report on Monday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.71.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of TOST traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.75. 9,814,950 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,450,960. The stock has a market cap of $16.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.20 and a beta of 1.93. Toast has a 1-year low of $25.91 and a 1-year high of $49.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.40 and a 200-day moving average of $36.97.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Toast had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 5.56%.Toast’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toast declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Stephen Fredette sold 4,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.38, for a total transaction of $167,293.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 910,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,306,634.28. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 3,303 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.38, for a total value of $113,557.14. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 235,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,105,325.66. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,856 shares of company stock worth $3,540,449. Corporate insiders own 12.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cim LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toast by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cim LLC now owns 38,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC raised its stake in Toast by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 13,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Toast by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 13,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. 82.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Toast

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.