Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Stock Jumps 8.6% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) shot up 8.6% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $161.21 and last traded at $165.19. 512,240 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 1,687,368 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TWST. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore lowered shares of Twist Bioscience from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $102.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.17.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.59 and a beta of 2.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.95.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $118.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.55 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 31.66% and a negative return on equity of 28.64%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Robert Werner sold 1,482 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total value of $279,920.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 4,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.15, for a total transaction of $919,378.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 562,760 shares in the company, valued at $113,761,934. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 599,458 shares of company stock valued at $93,383,392 in the last 90 days. 3.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TWST. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter valued at $600,191,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience in the second quarter valued at about $223,722,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the second quarter worth about $94,922,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the first quarter worth about $22,563,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at about $19,722,000.

About Twist Bioscience

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.