106,712 Shares in Twist Bioscience Corporation $TWST Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group acquired 106,712 shares of Twist Bioscience worth approximately $5.1 million, giving it a 0.17% stake. Several other institutional investors also initiated or increased positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with eight Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating; the average price target is $90.30, with recent targets ranging from $85 to $120.
• Twist shares opened at $88.55 and have risen substantially over the past year, but the company remains unprofitable. Quarterly revenue increased 19.3% year over year to $110.72 million, while adjusted earnings missed estimates at a loss of $0.71 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 106,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,071,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Twist Bioscience as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Advocates LLC raised its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 562.7% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience in the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Paula Green sold 291 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.32, for a total transaction of $25,410.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 120,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,514,550.48. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, Director Jan Johannessen sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total value of $673,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,354.48. The trade was a 40.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,211 shares of company stock valued at $4,199,331. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on TWST shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Evercore lowered Twist Bioscience from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $102.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Twist Bioscience from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $89.00 price target on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.30.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of TWST opened at $88.55 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $83.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.70. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 1 year low of $23.30 and a 1 year high of $105.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of -66.58 and a beta of 2.11.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.22). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 26.73%. The business had revenue of $110.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.66) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Twist Bioscience 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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