Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Now Covered by UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group initiated coverage of Twist Bioscience with a “neutral” rating and a $144 price target, implying 12.45% upside. Analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average target of $103.80.
• Twist Bioscience shares opened at $128.06 after rising 2.7%; the stock has traded between $23.30 and $155.44 over the past year and carries an $8.03 billion market capitalization.
• The company exceeded quarterly revenue expectations with $118.38 million, up 23.2% year over year, but missed on earnings with a loss of $0.56 per share versus the $0.51 consensus estimate. Insiders sold approximately $24 million in shares over the past 90 days.

Equities researchers at UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group's target price suggests a potential upside of 12.45% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on TWST. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Leerink Partners set a $110.00 price objective on Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Twist Bioscience from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.80.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 2.7%

Twist Bioscience stock opened at $128.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $111.93 and its 200-day moving average is $77.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of -57.68 and a beta of 2.22. Twist Bioscience has a fifty-two week low of $23.30 and a fifty-two week high of $155.44.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $118.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.55 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 28.64% and a negative net margin of 31.66%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CFO Adam Laponis sold 2,399 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $226,297.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 110,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,402,335.08. This trade represents a 2.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 113,318 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.16, for a total transaction of $14,182,880.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 818,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $102,498,280.08. This represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 192,697 shares of company stock valued at $23,998,505 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,333,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter worth about $99,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 54.9% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 601 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at about $283,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth about $1,327,000.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a synthetic biology company specializing in the development and commercialization of DNA-based products and solutions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has pioneered a proprietary silicon-based DNA synthesis platform designed for high-throughput production of synthetic genes and oligonucleotides. Twist leverages semiconductor manufacturing techniques to enable precise, scalable synthesis of DNA at speeds and volumes unattainable with traditional methods.

At the core of Twist's offering is its proprietary platform that automates the synthesis of custom DNA fragments, gene libraries, and long oligonucleotides.

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