Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $30.33, but opened at $31.39. Twist Bioscience shares last traded at $31.40, with a volume of 340,104 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on TWST. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.87 and a beta of 2.38.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate 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 expect that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.68, for a total transaction of $71,939.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 660,966 shares in the company, valued at $27,549,062.88. This represents a 0.26% 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, SVP Paula Green sold 1,101 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 value of $41,452.65. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 129,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,871,157. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,012 shares of company stock valued at $817,752. 3.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the first quarter worth about $344,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Twist Bioscience by 5.0% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 95,964 shares of the company's stock worth $3,768,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the first quarter worth about $711,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Twist Bioscience by 18.9% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,917 shares of the company's stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in Twist Bioscience by 49.3% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 4,860 shares of the company's stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period.

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.