Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading 10.3% Higher – Here’s Why

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)’s share price traded up 10.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $39.70 and last traded at $40.48. 1,102,103 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 986,587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on TWST shares. Barclays set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.40.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.57 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.96 and a quick ratio of 4.62.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $88.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.75) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In other news, Director Robert Chess sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,050. The trade was a 23.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,654 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.90, for a total value of $74,264.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 673,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,220,573.60. This represents a 0.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,603,945 in the last three months. 3.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience in the 4th quarter worth about $657,000. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 19,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 4,488 shares in the last quarter.

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.