Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) Short Interest Down 12.5% in March

Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,580,000 shares, a decrease of 12.5% from the February 28th total of 26,940,000 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Toast Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of Toast stock opened at $34.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.60. Toast has a 52 week low of $21.32 and a 52 week high of $44.12. The company has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a PE ratio of -3,421.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.99.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Toast had a return on equity of 1.54% and a net margin of 0.40%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Deval L. Patrick sold 34,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.01, for a total value of $1,129,668.22. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,712.60. The trade was a 72.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 2,052 shares of Toast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.63, for a total transaction of $81,320.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 160,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,360,535.74. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 270,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,409,211. Company insiders own 13.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toast

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Toast by 120.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Toast in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toast in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Toast during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Toast from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Toast from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Toast from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Toast from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Toast from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.48.

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.