Insider Selling: Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) CAO Sells 148 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• Chief Accounting Officer Robert Werner sold 148 shares for $20,039, a 0.34% reduction in his holdings; the sale covered tax withholding on vested equity awards, and he retained 42,769 shares.
• Twist Bioscience shares fell 15.5% to $120.53 in Thursday trading.
• Quarterly revenue rose 23.2% year over year and beat expectations, but earnings per share missed estimates. Analysts’ consensus rating was Hold, with an average price target of $153.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) CAO Robert Werner sold 148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.40, for a total value of $20,039.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,769 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,922.60. This trade represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Twist Bioscience Stock Down 15.5%

TWST traded down $22.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $120.53. 3,084,289 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,763,809. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.29 and a beta of 2.25. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $152.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.28. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $219.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $118.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $114.55 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 28.64% and a negative net margin of 31.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TWST. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 94.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 548 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TWST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BWS Financial reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, September 18th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $107.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $112.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $153.00.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA and related products for life sciences research. The company uses a proprietary silicon-based platform to produce high-quality DNA at scale, supporting applications in synthetic biology, drug discovery and development, agriculture, and academic and industrial research.

Its offerings include synthetic genes, oligonucleotides, gene fragments, variant libraries, and antibody discovery products.

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.