Insider Selling: Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells 1,730 Shares of Stock

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total value of $81,206.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 495,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,259,849.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TWST traded up $1.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.46. 407,885 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,002,683. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 12-month low of $14.42 and a 12-month high of $60.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.48 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.14.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 111.3% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,723,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,621 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,267,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,732,000 after purchasing an additional 284,884 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,227,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,116,000 after purchasing an additional 132,770 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 1,021.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 673,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,168,000 after acquiring an additional 613,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 720.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 654,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,272,000 after acquiring an additional 575,080 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on TWST shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. 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 research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.22.

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.