Bank of America Corp DE Sells 451,268 Shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) by 71.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,464 shares of the company's stock after selling 451,268 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.31% of Twist Bioscience worth $8,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 17,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 5,033 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 138.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 90,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,207,000 after buying an additional 52,495 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at $2,677,000. First Light Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at $56,984,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 627,649 shares of the company's stock worth $29,167,000 after purchasing an additional 51,926 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on TWST shares. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

Shares of TWST traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $28.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,192,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 980,244. 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 12 month low of $27.12 and a 12 month high of $60.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -8.55 and a beta of 2.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.38.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 2,402 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $98,265.82. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 662,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,110,729.72. The trade was a 0.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total value of $27,846.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,154,035.50. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,850 shares of company stock valued at $974,764. 3.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Twist Bioscience 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.