Twist Bioscience Corporation $TWST Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its Twist Bioscience stake by 21.4% in the first quarter, selling 406,730 shares and leaving it with 1,496,099 shares valued at about $71.1 million.
• Insiders have also been selling, including CEO Emily M. Leproust and Director Melissa A. Starovasnik; over the past 90 days, insiders sold 64,983 shares worth about $5.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with multiple firms issuing buy or outperform ratings and a consensus target price of $84.30, even as the stock traded down 3.2% to $90.64 and the company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) by 21.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,496,099 shares of the company's stock after selling 406,730 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 2.44% of Twist Bioscience worth $71,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,954,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,812,146 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 71.1% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,082,319 shares of the company's stock worth $114,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,377 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 151.5% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,793,850 shares of the company's stock worth $50,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,722 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,559,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,787,000 after purchasing an additional 832,687 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 934.0% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 628,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,113,000 after purchasing an additional 567,481 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Melissa A. Starovasnik sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.83, for a total transaction of $30,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,559,476.26. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 18,880 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,793,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 824,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,283,705. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,983 shares of company stock worth $5,039,917. 3.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler started coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Leerink Partners set a $80.00 price target on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, June 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.30.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of TWST traded down $3.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,353,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.70. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.15 and a beta of 2.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $74.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.97. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $105.47.

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

Twist Bioscience Company 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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