Insider Selling: Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells 5,203 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• CEO Emily Leproust sold 5,203 Twist Bioscience shares for approximately $922,908 at an average price of $177.38. The Rule 10b5-1 plan transaction reduced her ownership by 0.84%, leaving her with 613,699 shares.
• Twist Bioscience shares closed at $182.83, near their 52-week high of $186.20, with the stock up sharply above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company has a market capitalization of about $11.47 billion.
• The company exceeded revenue expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $118.38 million versus $114.55 million expected, but missed on earnings per share and remains unprofitable. Analysts collectively assign the stock a “Moderate Buy” rating, with a consensus price target of $103.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) CEO Emily Leproust sold 5,203 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.38, for a total value of $922,908.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 613,699 shares in the company, valued at $108,857,928.62. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

NASDAQ TWST traded down $1.20 on Friday, hitting $182.83. 2,689,406 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,580,441. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $125.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.46. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $23.30 and a fifty-two week high of $186.20. The firm has a market cap of $11.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.36 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 28.64% and a negative net margin of 31.66%.The company had revenue of $118.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TWST shares. BWS Financial reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TWST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter worth about $600,191,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at $223,722,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at $94,922,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Twist Bioscience during the first quarter valued at about $22,563,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Twist Bioscience by 242.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 415,609 shares of the company's stock worth $13,183,000 after acquiring an additional 294,144 shares in the last quarter.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA using a proprietary silicon-based platform. The company serves researchers and organizations in biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, agriculture, industrial chemicals and academic research.

Its products include synthetic genes, gene fragments, oligonucleotides and DNA libraries used in research, drug discovery, diagnostics development and other applications. Twist also provides next-generation sequencing tools and products, including target-enrichment and sample-preparation solutions, as well as synthetic biology services that support the design and testing of biological systems.

Twist was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

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