Christopher P. Comparato, a director at Toast , Inc. (NYSE:TOST), has recently sold a significant portion of his holdings in the company. According to a Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Comparato sold a total of 144,000 shares of Toast's Class A Common Stock on December 19, 2024. The transaction comes as Toast's stock has shown remarkable performance, with a nearly 97% gain year-to-date according to InvestingPro data. The sales were executed at prices ranging from $36.029 to $36.699 per share, amounting to a total transaction value of approximately $5.23 million.
Additionally, Comparato exercised stock options to acquire 145,000 shares at a price of $1.52 per share, which were then partially sold as part of the transactions mentioned above. Following these transactions, Comparato now holds 182,451 shares of Class A Common Stock.
These transactions were carried out under a pre-arranged trading plan established on March 1, 2024, in accordance with Rule 10b5-1. As of the filing date, Comparato also retains ownership of 8,968,280 shares of Class B Common Stock, which can be converted into Class A shares at any time.
In other recent news, a wave of optimism among small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. has been highlighted by an RBC analyst, projecting a boost in technology investments in sectors such as Payments, Processors, and IT Services. This positive sentiment is expected to benefit major fintech players, including PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) and Toast Inc. PayPal's strong financial foundation and recent price increases are anticipated to improve its transaction margins in the SMB market. Meanwhile, Toast Inc. is forecasted to benefit from higher subscription revenue and location growth, supported by SMB optimism.
In addition, Toast Inc. has expanded its collaboration with Uber Technologies Inc . (NYSE:UBER), integrating Toast Delivery Services with Uber Direct to enhance delivery options for U.S. restaurants. This partnership aims to help restaurants reduce delivery costs and widen their delivery areas.
In analyst notes, PayPal has received an Outperform rating from Macquarie and Wolfe Research, while RBC Capital and Barclays (LON:BARC) have also maintained their positive ratings. Toast Inc., on the other hand, has seen a mix of analyst adjustments. DA Davidson downgraded the company's stock from Buy to Neutral, citing concerns over margin expansion expectations for 2025. In contrast, Baird maintained its Neutral rating on Toast, holding steady with a price target of $38.00.
Lastly, Goldman Sachs adjusted its stance on Toast Inc., shifting the stock's rating from Buy to Neutral, yet increased the price target to $45.00. These are the recent developments in the fintech sector.
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