ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 18.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,696 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Twist Bioscience were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter valued at $10,766,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 213,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,868,000 after buying an additional 110,036 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience in the 4th quarter valued at about $572,000. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 154.2% during the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 38,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after acquiring an additional 23,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter worth about $526,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Dennis Cho sold 709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total transaction of $28,310.37. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 78,996 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,154,310.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Dennis Cho sold 709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total value of $28,310.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,154,310.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.91, for a total transaction of $41,182.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,599,873.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,386 shares of company stock worth $770,915. Corporate insiders own 3.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on TWST. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.88.

Twist Bioscience Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Twist Bioscience stock opened at $46.39 on Monday. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 12-month low of $14.42 and a 12-month high of $60.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of -13.81 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.31 and its 200-day moving average is $43.42.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported ($1.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.71). The firm had revenue of $81.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.40 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 74.63% and a negative return on equity of 32.17%. Twist Bioscience’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.01) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -3.13 EPS for the current year.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

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.