UBS Group AG Acquires 147,389 Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation $TWST

Key Points

• UBS Group AG increased its stake in Twist Bioscience by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 147,389 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 662,317 shares worth about $21.0 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive, with several analysts raising price targets and seven rating the stock a Buy; the consensus rating is now Moderate Buy with an average price target of $56.57.
• Twist Bioscience reported mixed quarterly results, posting revenue of $110.72 million that beat expectations and rose 19.3% year over year, but earnings per share of -$0.71 missed analyst estimates.

UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 662,317 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 147,389 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 1.08% of Twist Bioscience worth $21,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 227.6% during the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 47,200 shares of the company's stock worth $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 32,792 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,463,085 shares of the company's stock worth $41,171,000 after purchasing an additional 184,726 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 71.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,262,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,533,000 after purchasing an additional 487,052 shares during the period. Finally, First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 26.4% in the third quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 1,194,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,624,000 after purchasing an additional 249,850 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TWST shares. Evercore upped their price target on Twist Bioscience from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Twist Bioscience from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.57.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 8,061 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total transaction of $526,302.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 858,887 shares in the company, valued at $56,076,732.23. This represents a 0.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert Chess sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $470,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,084 shares in the company, valued at $990,948. This trade represents a 32.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 46,551 shares of company stock worth $2,492,743 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.08% of the company's stock.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TWST opened at $56.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.35 and a 200-day moving average of $41.98. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 12 month low of $23.30 and a 12 month high of $66.06. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of -42.26 and a beta of 2.22.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 26.73%. The firm had revenue of $110.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.64 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Twist Bioscience 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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