Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Down 4.4% – Time to Sell?

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)’s share price traded down 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $37.34 and last traded at $36.76. 76,252 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 979,745 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on TWST shares. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim set a $50.00 target price on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.80.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of -10.89 and a beta of 2.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.42.

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

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In other Twist Bioscience news, insider Dennis Cho sold 806 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.35, for a total transaction of $39,776.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 112,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,538,106.35. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Chess sold 2,940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,796 shares of company stock valued at $1,077,383 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TWST. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 547.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 686 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Twist Bioscience by 68.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 748 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000.

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.