D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) by 1,085.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,268 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 98,223 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.18% of Twist Bioscience worth $4,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TWST. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 214.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 153,039 shares of the company's stock worth $6,913,000 after buying an additional 104,420 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience during the 4th quarter worth $1,059,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 67.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 205,864 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,301,000 after acquiring an additional 82,953 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,807,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,860,000 after purchasing an additional 189,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 37,886 shares of the company's stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 9,722 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TWST. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.40.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 2,402 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $98,265.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 662,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,110,729.72. This trade represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dennis Cho sold 689 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.65, for a total transaction of $25,940.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 110,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,173,464.85. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,991 shares of company stock worth $742,654. 3.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Twist Bioscience Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:TWST traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.91. The company had a trading volume of 983,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 972,899. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.96 and a quick ratio of 4.62. Twist Bioscience Co. has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $60.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of -9.14 and a beta of 2.54.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.10). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 59.76% and a negative return on equity of 32.69%. The company had revenue of $92.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.00 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 EPS for the current year.

About Twist Bioscience

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.