Insider Selling: Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells $56,330,702.54 in Stock

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Emily Leproust sold 356,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.99, for a total value of $56,330,702.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 620,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,046,856.11. This represents a 36.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TWST opened at $158.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $123.26 and its 200-day moving average is $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.40 and a beta of 2.22. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.30 and a 52-week high of $170.66.

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

More Twist Bioscience News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Twist’s partnership with Lilly TuneLab, Eli Lilly’s AI-driven drug-discovery platform, makes Twist a preferred provider of antibody-characterization data and expands its exposure to AI-enabled pharmaceutical research. Twist Bioscience Expands AI Drug Discovery Exposure With Lilly TuneLab Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly update showed record revenue of $118.4 million, up 23.2% year over year, and higher full-year revenue guidance. These results provide fundamental support for the recent rally, despite a quarterly loss and an earnings miss.
• Neutral Sentiment: TWST recently reached a new 12-month high after its partnership-driven advance, leaving the stock vulnerable to normal consolidation and profit-taking. Twist Bioscience Hits New 12-Month High
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, although several published price targets remain well below the current market level. This highlights valuation risk after the stock’s substantial appreciation.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Emily Leproust sold 1,687 shares, while SVP Paula Green and insider Dennis Cho sold 294 and 348 shares, respectively, at approximately $165.49. The transactions were reportedly made to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, limiting their negative significance, and each executive retained a large stake. SEC insider transaction filings
• Negative Sentiment: A larger recent sale by Leproust—356,546 shares worth approximately $56.3 million—reduced her direct ownership by roughly 36.5%. Although it was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, the scale of the transaction may weigh on momentum investors. Twist Bioscience CEO Emily Leproust Sells Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate no insider purchases and 87 insider sales over the past six months. Combined with TWST’s high-growth valuation and ongoing losses, the selling trend increases concerns about near-term profit-taking and downside risk.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 943 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 54.9% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 89.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 958 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Twist Bioscience by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $808,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TWST. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Evercore lowered Twist Bioscience from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $102.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, August 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA using a proprietary silicon-based platform. The company serves researchers and organizations in biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, agriculture, industrial chemicals and academic research.

Its products include synthetic genes, gene fragments, oligonucleotides and DNA libraries used in research, drug discovery, diagnostics development and other applications. Twist also provides next-generation sequencing tools and products, including target-enrichment and sample-preparation solutions, as well as synthetic biology services that support the design and testing of biological systems.

Twist was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.