Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $166.97, but opened at $158.26. Twist Bioscience shares last traded at $153.7760, with a volume of 1,016,013 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 4,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.15, for a total transaction of $919,378.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 562,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,761,934. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Robert Werner sold 1,482 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 transaction of $279,920.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,917 shares in the company, valued at $8,106,162.96. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. 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. In related news, insider Dennis Cho sold 9,514 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total transaction of $1,797,004.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 63,789 shares in the company, valued at $12,048,466.32. This trade represents a 12.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TWST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Twist Bioscience from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore downgraded Twist Bioscience from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $102.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, July 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.17.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $142.96 and its 200-day moving average is $95.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.49 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

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

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at about $62,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth $63,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 24.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 943 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period.

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.