Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading Up 10.3% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) rose 10.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $39.70 and last traded at $40.48. Approximately 1,102,103 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 986,587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TWST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays set a $58.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.40.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.96 and a quick ratio of 4.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.58 and a beta of 2.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.43.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 2,402 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $98,265.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 662,692 shares in the company, valued at $27,110,729.72. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $37,555.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,355,609.92. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,603,945. Insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Twist Bioscience in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter.

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.