Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires Shares of 959,253 Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST)

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 959,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,965,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TOST. Seven Mile Advisory raised its holdings in Toast by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 11,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Toast by 81.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 23,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 10,380 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Toast by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new stake in Toast in the 4th quarter valued at $941,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Toast in the 4th quarter worth $282,010,000. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Toast from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Toast in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Toast from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Toast from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Toast from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Toast has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.38.

Insider Activity at Toast

In other Toast news, President Stephen Fredette sold 70,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.87, for a total value of $2,382,415.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 1,574,316 shares in the company, valued at $53,322,082.92. The trade was a 4.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 653 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.63, for a total value of $25,878.39. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 209,206 shares in the company, valued at $8,290,833.78. This represents a 0.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 270,770 shares of company stock worth $9,409,211. 13.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Toast Stock Performance

TOST stock opened at $30.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a PE ratio of -3,054.55, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 2.00. Toast, Inc. has a one year low of $21.32 and a one year high of $44.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.67.

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

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.