Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.8750.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Stephens assumed coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $41.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Robert F. Werner sold 1,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.44, for a total value of $31,943.04. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 51,030 shares in the company, valued at $1,604,383.20. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dennis Cho sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total value of $32,689.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 120,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,871,863.52. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 119,080 shares of company stock valued at $3,797,825 in the last three months. 3.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,726,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,292,000 after purchasing an additional 326,367 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Twist Bioscience by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,410,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,403,000 after buying an additional 1,349,867 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,142,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,564,000 after buying an additional 235,679 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 71.1% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,082,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 186.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,442,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588,587 shares in the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:TWST opened at $32.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of -24.54 and a beta of 2.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Twist Bioscience has a 52 week low of $23.30 and a 52 week high of $55.33.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.05). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 20.63% and a negative return on equity of 27.40%. The firm had revenue of $99.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.40 million. On average, analysts predict that Twist Bioscience will post -2.12 EPS for the current year.

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.