Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Sells 20,501 Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation $TWST

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital Advisors cut its Twist Bioscience stake by 47.6% in the third quarter, selling 20,501 shares and retaining 22,539 shares valued at about $4.36 million.
• Twist reported quarterly revenue of $118.38 million, above analyst estimates and up 23.2% year over year, but its loss of $0.56 per share was wider than expected.
• Analyst views are mixed: seven rate the stock a Buy, three a Hold, and two a Sell; the consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $153.

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,539 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,501 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Twist Bioscience were worth $4,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TWST. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience in the second quarter valued at about $853,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the first quarter worth about $22,563,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 46.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 584,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,764,000 after acquiring an additional 184,907 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at about $223,722,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at about $8,215,000.

Twist Bioscience Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ TWST opened at $142.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.22 and a beta of 2.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.28. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a one year low of $23.30 and a one year high of $219.71.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $114.55 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 28.64% and a negative net margin of 31.66%. Twist Bioscience's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Twist Bioscience

In related news, SVP Paula Green sold 10,088 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total value of $1,905,421.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 106,632 shares in the company, valued at $20,140,652.16. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Dennis Cho sold 9,514 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total transaction of $1,797,004.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 63,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,048,466.32. The trade was a 12.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 601,920 shares of company stock valued at $93,768,202 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TWST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, September 21st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $107.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Twist Bioscience from $115.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group began coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price target on Twist Bioscience from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.00.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA and related products for life sciences research. The company uses a proprietary silicon-based platform to produce high-quality DNA at scale, supporting applications in synthetic biology, drug discovery and development, agriculture, and academic and industrial research.

Its offerings include synthetic genes, oligonucleotides, gene fragments, variant libraries, and antibody discovery products.

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