Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $148.16, but opened at $138.09. Twist Bioscience shares last traded at $137.7410, with a volume of 672,363 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on TWST. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $112.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.67.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $148.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of -59.80 and a beta of 2.19.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.55 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In other news, insider Dennis Cho sold 9,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total transaction of $1,797,004.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 63,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,048,466.32. The trade was a 12.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 10,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total transaction of $1,905,421.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 106,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,140,652.16. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 601,920 shares of company stock valued at $93,768,202. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TWST. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $853,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,563,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 46.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 584,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,764,000 after buying an additional 184,907 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,722,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth approximately $8,215,000.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA using a silicon-based production platform. Its technology is designed to enable the precise, high-throughput synthesis of DNA at smaller scale and with potentially lower material consumption than traditional methods.

The company provides synthetic DNA products and services for applications in drug discovery and development, biotechnology research, agriculture, industrial chemicals and other life sciences markets.