Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Emily Leproust Sells 2,423 Shares

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Emily Leproust sold 2,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total transaction of $112,499.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 860,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,959,004.47. This trade represents a 0.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Twist Bioscience Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of NASDAQ TWST opened at $45.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $57.88. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.47 and a beta of 2.23.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $103.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.32 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.56% and a negative return on equity of 27.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore boosted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price objective on Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.88.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TWST. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 7,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 25,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a synthetic biology company specializing in the development and commercialization of DNA-based products and solutions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has pioneered a proprietary silicon-based DNA synthesis platform designed for high-throughput production of synthetic genes and oligonucleotides. Twist leverages semiconductor manufacturing techniques to enable precise, scalable synthesis of DNA at speeds and volumes unattainable with traditional methods.

At the core of Twist’s offering is its proprietary platform that automates the synthesis of custom DNA fragments, gene libraries, and long oligonucleotides.