Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience shares hit a new 52-week high, trading around $149 after rising 6.9%, well above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with eight Buy ratings, one Hold and one Sell, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus; however, the average price target of $98.30 is substantially below the current share price.
• The company exceeded quarterly revenue expectations with $118.38 million, up 23.2% year over year, but missed on earnings per share and remains unprofitable. CEO Emily Leproust and other insiders sold shares, while several major institutional investors increased their holdings.

Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $148.81 and last traded at $149.1050, with a volume of 72068 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $140.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on TWST. UBS Group set a $89.00 price objective on Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, June 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.30.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 6.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of -67.85 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Twist Bioscience's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 113,318 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.16, for a total transaction of $14,182,880.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 818,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,498,280.08. This trade represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 291 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.32, for a total transaction of $25,410.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 120,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,514,550.48. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,529 shares of company stock valued at $17,708,772. 3.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 10,945.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,770,424 shares of the company's stock worth $799,421,000 after purchasing an additional 7,700,076 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,559,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,787,000 after purchasing an additional 832,687 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,954,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812,146 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the second quarter worth $600,191,000. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 5,377,991 shares of the company's stock worth $170,590,000 after buying an additional 1,295,672 shares during the period.

Twist Bioscience Company 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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