Norges Bank Buys New Stake in Toast, Inc. $TOST

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,711,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,808,000. Norges Bank owned 1.11% of Toast at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Toast by 123.5% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Toast by 59.1% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Toast by 8,807.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Toast during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Toast by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 108,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total transaction of $2,796,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 189,642 shares in the company, valued at $4,909,831.38. This represents a 36.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 7,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $190,898.91. Following the transaction, the president owned 920,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,120,597.15. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,783 shares of company stock worth $3,838,037. Company insiders own 10.03% of the company’s stock.

Toast Stock Down 4.8%

TOST stock opened at $26.40 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.16. Toast, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.26 and a 52-week high of $49.66. The firm has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.61 and a beta of 1.76.

Toast declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TOST. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Toast in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Toast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Toast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Toast from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Toast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.84.

Toast Profile

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.