Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.40.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TWST. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Twist Bioscience Trading Up 6.9%

Shares of TWST stock opened at $32.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 2.54. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $38.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.64. The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Twist Bioscience has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $60.90.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $92.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.00 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 59.76% and a negative return on equity of 32.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Twist Bioscience will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Patrick John Finn sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.65, for a total transaction of $105,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 262,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,889,149. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.68, for a total value of $71,939.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 660,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,549,062.88. The trade was a 0.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,991 shares of company stock worth $742,654 over the last 90 days. 3.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 547.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 686 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 68.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 748 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of synthetic DNA-based products. The company offers synthetic genes and gene fragments used in product development for therapeutics, diagnostics, chemicals/materials, food/agriculture, data storage, and various applications within academic research by biotech, pharma, industrial chemical, and agricultural companies, as well as academic labs; Oligo pools used in targeted NGS, CRISPR gene editing, mutagenesis experiments, DNA origami, DNA computing, data storage in DNA, and other applications; and immunoglobulin G proteins for customers focused on the pursuit of drug discovery and development.

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