Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Climb 10.5% – Should You Buy?

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) shot up 10.5% on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $159.31 and last traded at $160.4610. 915,491 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 1,730,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $144.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $112.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, September 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.67.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.06 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.05). Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 28.64% and a negative net margin of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $118.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Twist Bioscience’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Twist Bioscience news, insider Dennis Cho sold 9,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total value of $1,797,004.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 63,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,048,466.32. This trade represents a 12.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 356,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.99, for a total value of $56,330,702.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 620,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,046,856.11. The trade was a 36.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 601,920 shares of company stock valued at $93,768,202. 3.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 94.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 548 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth approximately $62,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA and related products for life sciences research. The company uses a proprietary silicon-based platform to produce high-quality DNA at scale, supporting applications in synthetic biology, drug discovery and development, agriculture, and academic and industrial research.

Its offerings include synthetic genes, oligonucleotides, gene fragments, variant libraries, and antibody discovery products.