Insider Selling: Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells 1,730 Shares of Stock

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total transaction of $81,206.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 495,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,259,849.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Twist Bioscience stock traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.46. The company had a trading volume of 407,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,002,683. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 12-month low of $14.42 and a 12-month high of $60.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.48 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.14.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported ($1.47) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.71). The firm had revenue of $81.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.40 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 74.63% and a negative return on equity of 32.17%. Twist Bioscience’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.01) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -3.13 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TWST. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 2,912.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 31.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 27.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of synthetic DNA-based products. The company offers synthetic genes and gene fragments used in product development for therapeutics, diagnostics, chemicals/materials, food/agriculture, data storage, and various applications within academic research by biotech, pharma, industrial chemical, and agricultural companies, as well as academic labs; Oligo pools used in targeted NGS, CRISPR gene editing, mutagenesis experiments, DNA origami, DNA computing, data storage in DNA, and other applications; and immunoglobulin G proteins for customers focused on the pursuit of drug discovery and development.