Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience shares hit a new 52-week low of $26.29, closing at $26.64 with trading volume of 189,360 shares.
• Several analysts have issued ratings: Cowen and Guggenheim maintained "buy" ratings while Robert W. Baird and JPMorgan Chase lowered their price targets.
• The company reported better-than-expected earnings with an EPS of ($0.47) compared to analyst estimates of ($0.54), along with revenue of $96.06 million.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.29 and last traded at $26.64, with a volume of 189360 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $46.00 price objective on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Down 5.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 4.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.01 and a beta of 2.36.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.54) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $96.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.52 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 23.51% and a negative return on equity of 29.38%. As a group, research analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In other news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 2,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $83,359.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 649,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,326,492.50. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.15, for a total transaction of $93,429.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 103,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,951,157.35. This represents a 2.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,109 shares of company stock worth $425,962 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 7.2% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 618,250 shares of the company's stock worth $22,745,000 after acquiring an additional 41,469 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 190.5% during the second quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 139,591 shares of the company's stock worth $5,136,000 after acquiring an additional 91,546 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at $7,968,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 23.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter.

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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