Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Up 10.2% – Time to Buy?

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) shares rose 10.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $53.96 and last traded at $54.5270. Approximately 782,925 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 1,333,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Leerink Partners set a $80.00 price target on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of -45.54 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 2.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.13.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.22). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 26.73%. The business had revenue of $110.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.66) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CFO Adam Laponis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $240,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,121,640. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Melissa A. Starovasnik sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.00, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,722 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,822. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,551 shares of company stock worth $2,566,533. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the first quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 46.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 584,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,764,000 after buying an additional 184,907 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas now owns 145,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after buying an additional 10,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,343,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter.

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.