Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading 10.3% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience shares jumped 10.3% to $109.72 after Robert W. Baird raised its price target from $113 to $115 and maintained an “outperform” rating.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with eight of 10 analysts rating the stock a Buy and the company carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, though the average price target of $98.30 is below the current share price.
• Twist reported quarterly revenue of $118.38 million, up 23.2% year over year and above expectations, but its adjusted loss of $0.56 per share missed estimates. Insiders have sold more than 50,000 shares worth approximately $4.2 million over the past 90 days.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 10.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $113.00 to $115.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Twist Bioscience traded as high as $111.88 and last traded at $109.72. Approximately 593,619 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 1,494,425 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.44.

TWST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $60.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Leerink Partners set a $110.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Twist Bioscience

In other Twist Bioscience news, insider Dennis Cho sold 14,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $1,274,898.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 105,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,436,404.75. This trade represents a 11.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 18,880 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,793,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 824,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,283,705. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,211 shares of company stock worth $4,199,331. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 562.7% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 12.0%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.98. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of -83.77 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.70.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.05). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 31.66% and a negative return on equity of 28.40%. The business had revenue of $118.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $114.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.02 EPS for the current year.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a synthetic biology company specializing in the development and commercialization of DNA-based products and solutions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has pioneered a proprietary silicon-based DNA synthesis platform designed for high-throughput production of synthetic genes and oligonucleotides. Twist leverages semiconductor manufacturing techniques to enable precise, scalable synthesis of DNA at speeds and volumes unattainable with traditional methods.

At the core of Twist's offering is its proprietary platform that automates the synthesis of custom DNA fragments, gene libraries, and long oligonucleotides.

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