Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Down 8.2% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience shares fell by 8.2% to a trading price of $27.72, with a trading volume increase of 56% from its average.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.66), missing estimates, while revenue was slightly above at $92.79 million.
• Recent analyst ratings show a moderate consensus with eight buy ratings, a decrease in price targets from firms like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, and an average target price of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) was down 8.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $28.08 and last traded at $27.72. Approximately 1,737,346 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 56% from the average daily volume of 1,114,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TWST. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 0.9%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $34.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.26. The company has a current ratio of 3.90, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.43 and a beta of 2.36.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.54) by $0.07. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 29.03% and a negative net margin of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $96.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.52 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Twist Bioscience

In other Twist Bioscience news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,678 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total value of $60,005.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 645,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,093,164.32. This trade represents a 0.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 2,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.15, for a total transaction of $93,429.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 103,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,951,157.35. The trade was a 2.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,109 shares of company stock worth $425,962. 3.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TWST. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,131 shares of the company's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 66,524 shares of the company's stock worth $3,091,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,374,667 shares of the company's stock worth $63,895,000 after acquiring an additional 6,908 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 37,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 55,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 19,340 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.