Twist Bioscience Corporation $TWST Shares Sold by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Key Points

• Artisan Partners reduced its Twist Bioscience stake by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, though it still owned 5.83 million shares valued at about $184.9 million.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including directors Melissa A. Starovasnik and Jan Johannessen; insiders have sold 33,170 shares worth nearly $1.95 million over the last 90 days.
• Wall Street sentiment is mostly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $71.60 average price target, even as the company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss despite 19.3% revenue growth.

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its stake in Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,830,205 shares of the company's stock after selling 580,695 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 9.51% of Twist Bioscience worth $184,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Twist Bioscience by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 81,561 shares of the company's stock worth $2,587,000 after buying an additional 22,482 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at $290,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 7,769 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In other news, Director Melissa A. Starovasnik sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.00, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,311,822. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 transaction, the director owned 17,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,354.48. This trade represents a 40.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,170 shares of company stock worth $1,948,964. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, March 27th. Leerink Partners set a $80.00 price target on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on Twist Bioscience from $68.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.60.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TWST opened at $84.95 on Wednesday. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a twelve month low of $23.30 and a twelve month high of $86.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.98 and a 200-day moving average of $48.30. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.87 and a beta of 2.23.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.66) EPS. The business'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.

About Twist Bioscience

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TWST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.