Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) CAO Robert Werner Sells 1,482 Shares of Stock

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) CAO Robert Werner sold 1,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 42,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,106,162.96. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 8.7%

TWST traded up $16.33 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $205.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,203,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,622,926. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $136.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.42. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 52 week low of $23.30 and a 52 week high of $207.90. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -92.34 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Twist Bioscience News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Twist Bioscience this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Twist Bioscience reported approximately 23% year-over-year revenue growth in its latest quarter, reinforcing the company’s expansion narrative and helping support bullish sentiment. Twist Bioscience stock reports 23 percent revenue growth
• Positive Sentiment: Leerink raised its price target for TWST from $120 to $160, signaling improved analyst expectations. Although the revised target remains below the recent share price, the increase may have added to buying momentum. Leerink raises target for Twist Bioscience stock
• Positive Sentiment: The stock reached a new 52-week high, reflecting strong momentum and investor demand. TWST has benefited from enthusiasm around biotechnology and synthetic-DNA markets, as well as attention from actively managed biotech funds. Twist Bioscience reaches new 52-week high
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Emily Leproust, CFO Adam Laponis, CAO Robert Werner, SVP Paula Green and insider Dennis Cho sold shares primarily to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards. The transactions totaled roughly $14.3 million, but the CEO’s sales were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their usefulness as a signal of deteriorating business prospects. Twist Bioscience insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and profitability remain risks: the company continues to report net losses, and its latest quarterly earnings per share missed estimates despite beating revenue expectations. The sharp rally also leaves the stock well above Leerink’s revised target, increasing the potential for volatility or profit-taking.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TWST. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore downgraded shares of Twist Bioscience from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, September 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.27.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TWST. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the second quarter valued at about $600,191,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at about $223,722,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth about $94,922,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the first quarter worth about $22,563,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 242.2% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 415,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,183,000 after purchasing an additional 294,144 shares in the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

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.