QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 10.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 54,462 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,118 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Twist Bioscience were worth $1,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TWST. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 171,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,895,000 after purchasing an additional 44,349 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Twist Bioscience by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 213,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,868,000 after acquiring an additional 110,036 shares in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,583,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,835,000 after acquiring an additional 99,511 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 111.3% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,723,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 104.6% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 131,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,854,000 after purchasing an additional 67,320 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.75.

Twist Bioscience Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ TWST traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.23. The stock had a trading volume of 231,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,128. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.31 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.87 and its 200-day moving average is $39.60. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 52 week low of $14.42 and a 52 week high of $59.54.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.79) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.84) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $75.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.70 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 31.61% and a negative net margin of 69.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.06) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Patrick John Finn sold 2,174 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.12, for a total value of $65,480.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 176,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,307,324.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Twist Bioscience news, insider William Banyai sold 798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.13, for a total transaction of $29,629.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 345,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,816,830.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Patrick John Finn sold 2,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.12, for a total value of $65,480.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 176,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,307,324.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,570 shares of company stock valued at $827,162 over the last ninety days. 3.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.