Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Up 9.4% – Still a Buy?

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) shares rose 9.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $92.45 and last traded at $93.0260. Approximately 740,041 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,462,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TWST has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $68.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, June 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners set a $80.00 price objective on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.60.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of -72.67 and a beta of 2.23.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $110.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.64 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 26.73%. Twist Bioscience’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.66) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 8,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total transaction of $526,302.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 858,887 shares in the company, valued at $56,076,732.23. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Dennis Cho sold 402 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $28,075.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,359,289.28. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 35,495 shares of company stock worth $2,151,983 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the first quarter worth $33,000. Strategic Advocates LLC increased its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 562.7% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a synthetic biology company specializing in the development and commercialization of DNA-based products and solutions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has pioneered a proprietary silicon-based DNA synthesis platform designed for high-throughput production of synthetic genes and oligonucleotides. Twist leverages semiconductor manufacturing techniques to enable precise, scalable synthesis of DNA at speeds and volumes unattainable with traditional methods.

At the core of Twist’s offering is its proprietary platform that automates the synthesis of custom DNA fragments, gene libraries, and long oligonucleotides.