Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading Up 7.2% - Should You Buy?

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) shares rose 7.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $36.17 and last traded at $36.36. Approximately 390,128 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 971,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TWST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. 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. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.66 and a beta of 2.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.51 and a quick ratio of 4.24.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $92.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $92.00 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 54.98% and a negative return on equity of 33.48%. On average, analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Patrick John Finn sold 2,058 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.99, for a total value of $82,299.42. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 265,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,615,745.40. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 936 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total value of $27,846.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,154,035.50. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,673 shares of company stock worth $720,412 over the last 90 days. 3.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 547.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 686 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Twist Bioscience by 68.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 748 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000.

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.