AQR Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 160,774 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,787 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Twist Bioscience worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Light Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter valued at $56,984,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 15,927.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 846,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,319,000 after purchasing an additional 840,828 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,505,753 shares of the company's stock worth $69,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,040 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 80.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 680,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,636,000 after buying an additional 302,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 756,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,148,000 after purchasing an additional 293,751 shares in the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 5.5 %

NASDAQ TWST traded down $1.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,158,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 968,895. Twist Bioscience Co. has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $60.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of -9.12 and a beta of 2.54. 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 (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $92.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.00 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 32.69% and a negative net margin of 59.76%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on TWST shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 2,402 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $98,265.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 662,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,110,729.72. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dennis Cho sold 689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.65, for a total value of $25,940.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,849 shares in the company, valued at $4,173,464.85. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,991 shares of company stock worth $742,654 over the last 90 days. 3.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

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.