Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Stock: Insider Emily Leproust Sells 4,573 Shares

Key Points

• CEO Emily Leproust sold 4,573 shares for about $619,000, reducing her stake by 0.81%; the sale covered tax withholding on vested equity awards. She retained 558,187 shares.
• Twist Bioscience shares fell 15.5% to $120.53 during Thursday trading. In its latest reported quarter, revenue rose 23.2% year over year to $118.38 million, but the company missed the earnings-per-share estimate.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was Hold, with an average price target of $153; ratings included seven Buys, three Holds, and two Sells.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) CEO Emily Leproust sold 4,573 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.40, for a total value of $619,184.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 558,187 shares in the company, valued at $75,578,519.80. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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%

NASDAQ TWST traded down $22.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $120.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,054,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,809. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of -54.29 and a beta of 2.25. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 1-year low of $23.30 and a 1-year high of $219.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $152.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.28. 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 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 net margin of 31.66% and a negative return on equity of 28.64%. The company had revenue of $118.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Twist Bioscience's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on TWST. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective 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. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $153.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TWST. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the third quarter worth $8,162,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the third quarter valued at about $8,668,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the third quarter worth approximately $231,000. Ethic Inc. raised its position in Twist Bioscience by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company's stock worth $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter valued at about $361,000.

About Twist Bioscience

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.

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