Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $28.37 and last traded at $28.47, with a volume of 1137111 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TWST. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.42 and a beta of 2.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.96 and a quick ratio of 4.62.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $92.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dennis Cho sold 689 shares of the company’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 value of $25,940.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,173,464.85. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 2,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $98,265.82. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 662,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,110,729.72. The trade was a 0.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,991 shares of company stock worth $742,654 over the last 90 days. 3.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TWST. Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the 4th quarter worth approximately $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.