Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened 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 changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TWST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $34.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.01. The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.50 and a beta of 2.54.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $92.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $92.00 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 32.69% and a negative net margin of 59.76%. Equities research analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Twist Bioscience news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,726 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.68, for a total transaction of $71,939.68. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 1,101 shares of the firm's 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 $41,452.65. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 129,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,871,157. This represents a 0.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,012 shares of company stock valued at $817,752 in the last three months. 3.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TWST. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 214.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 153,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,913,000 after buying an additional 104,420 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 91,393 shares of the company's stock worth $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 50,803 shares of the company's stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 5,701 shares during the period.

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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