Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) hit a new 52-week high on Monday. The stock traded as high as $203.95 and last traded at $202.36, with a volume of 504020 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $188.67.

Twist Bioscience News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Twist Bioscience this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Eli Lilly deal supports investor enthusiasm: Twist shares gained in the prior session following news of a deal with Eli Lilly, reinforcing expectations that Twist’s synthetic-DNA platform can benefit from demand in pharmaceutical research and development. Twist Bioscience stock gained after Lilly deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target raised: Leerink increased its price target for TWST from $120 to $160, signaling a more constructive view of the company’s outlook, although the revised target remains below the stock’s recent trading levels. Leerink raises target for Twist Bioscience
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum remains strong: Twist reached a new 52-week high, reflecting substantial investor demand and continued enthusiasm for biotechnology and genomic-technology stocks. Twist Bioscience reaches a new 52-week high
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider transactions disclosed: CEO Emily Leproust, CFO Adam Laponis, CAO Robert Werner, SVP Paula Green and insider Dennis Cho reported share sales. The filings state that the transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans or to cover tax withholding related to equity vesting, reducing the significance as a signal of discretionary bearishness. Twist Bioscience insider sales
• Negative Sentiment: Large volume of insider selling pressures the stock: The disclosures include a sale of 45,736 shares by the CEO and additional sales by senior executives. Even though the transactions were tied to equity-award tax obligations, their timing after a sharp rally may encourage profit-taking concerns and contributed to the stock’s decline. Twist Bioscience stock down after insider selling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on TWST. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group began coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $144.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.27.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.21 and a beta of 2.19. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last released 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). The business had revenue of $118.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.55 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 31.66% and a negative return on equity of 28.64%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 45,736 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total transaction of $8,638,615.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 567,308 shares in the company, valued at $107,153,135.04. This represents a 7.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 10,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total transaction of $1,905,421.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 106,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,140,652.16. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 597,309 shares of company stock valued at $92,690,311. 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 modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 943 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Twist Bioscience by 89.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 958 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA using a silicon-based production platform. Its technology is designed to enable the precise, high-throughput synthesis of DNA at smaller scale and with potentially lower material consumption than traditional methods.

The company provides synthetic DNA products and services for applications in drug discovery and development, biotechnology research, agriculture, industrial chemicals and other life sciences markets.