Robert Chess Sells 10,000 Shares of Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Stock

Key Points

• Robert Chess, a director of Twist Bioscience (TWST), sold 10,000 shares on March 17 at an average price of $47.00 for proceeds of $470,000, cutting his stake by 32.17% to 21,084 shares valued at about $991,000.
• Recent financials: Twist reported Q4 EPS of -$0.50 (missing estimates by $0.02) with revenue of $103.7M (up 16.9% year-over-year), a negative net margin of 19.56% and negative ROE of 27.16%, and a market cap of ~$2.75B.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but modestly positive overall: MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $45.88 price target, while several firms have raised targets to $50–$52 and one has maintained a sell rating; the stock traded around $44.80 mid-day.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) Director Robert Chess sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $470,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $990,948. The trade was a 32.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TWST traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $44.80. The stock had a trading volume of 727,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,316,972. The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.00 and a beta of 2.23. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 1 year low of $23.30 and a 1 year high of $57.88. The business's 50 day moving average price is $45.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.61.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $103.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $100.32 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.56% and a negative return on equity of 27.16%. The business's revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TWST. Quarry LP bought a new position in Twist Bioscience during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 562.7% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 70.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on TWST shares. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.88.

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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