Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading Up 8% – Still a Buy?

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)’s stock price shot up 8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $47.37 and last traded at $47.13. 370,973 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 938,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TWST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Twist Bioscience from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.90.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 1.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Twist Bioscience

In other Twist Bioscience news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 14,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.60, for a total transaction of $639,296.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 589,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,294,019.20. This trade represents a 2.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 3,310 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.21, for a total value of $143,025.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 84,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,917.85. The trade was a 3.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,659 shares of company stock worth $4,484,602. 3.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Twist Bioscience by 67.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 205,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,301,000 after buying an additional 82,953 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,302,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 252,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,756,000 after acquiring an additional 8,308 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

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.