Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Stock Position in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,139 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,967 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Twist Bioscience were worth $4,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,807,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,860,000 after buying an additional 189,791 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 5,595,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,040,000 after acquiring an additional 237,772 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Twist Bioscience by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,167,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,101,000 after purchasing an additional 526,028 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,505,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,367,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,807,000 after purchasing an additional 26,145 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In other Twist Bioscience news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.68, for a total value of $71,939.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 660,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,549,062.88. This represents a 0.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Chess sold 2,940 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.13, for a total transaction of $156,202.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,531.49. This trade represents a 13.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,799 shares of company stock worth $1,593,944 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Twist Bioscience Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of TWST stock opened at $39.26 on Tuesday. Twist Bioscience Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.41 and a fifty-two week high of $60.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of -11.62 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a current ratio of 4.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.33.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $88.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.96 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 59.76% and a negative return on equity of 32.69%. Twist Bioscience’s quarterly revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.75) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays set a $58.00 price target on Twist Bioscience and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.40.

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.