Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells 41,570 Shares

Key Points

• CEO Emily Leproust sold 41,570 shares of Twist Bioscience at an average price of $151.98, generating approximately $6.32 million. The transaction, conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reduced her direct holdings by 5.12% to 770,729 shares.
• Twist shares rose to $153.16 and are near their 52-week high of $155.44, but the company remains unprofitable. Quarterly revenue increased 23.2% year over year to $118.38 million, while adjusted EPS of negative $0.56 missed analyst expectations.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with eight Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. However, the average price target of $98.30 is well below the current share price.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) CEO Emily Leproust sold 41,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.98, for a total transaction of $6,317,808.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 770,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,135,393.42. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 Price Performance

Shares of TWST traded up $3.10 on Thursday, hitting $153.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,251,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,533,463. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of -68.99 and a beta of 2.14. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $23.30 and a fifty-two week high of $155.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.62. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.05). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 31.66% and a negative return on equity of 28.64%. The business had revenue of $118.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners set a $110.00 price target on Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TWST. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 943 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Twist Bioscience by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 7,769 shares of the company's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 25,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 0.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter.

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.

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