Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells 1,687 Shares

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Emily Leproust sold 1,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.49, for a total transaction of $279,181.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 618,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,422,091.98. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:TWST traded down $6.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.50. 2,133,311 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,563,605. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $121.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.40 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $170.66.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.05). Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 28.64% and a negative net margin of 31.66%.The business had revenue of $118.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on TWST. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, August 24th. BWS Financial reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their target price on Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TWST. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at $62,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the second quarter worth $63,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the first quarter worth $31,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 24.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA using a proprietary silicon-based platform. The company serves researchers and organizations in biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, agriculture, industrial chemicals and academic research.

Its products include synthetic genes, gene fragments, oligonucleotides and DNA libraries used in research, drug discovery, diagnostics development and other applications. Twist also provides next-generation sequencing tools and products, including target-enrichment and sample-preparation solutions, as well as synthetic biology services that support the design and testing of biological systems.

Twist was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.