Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 32.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 93,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,786 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Twist Bioscience were worth $4,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $37,555.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,355,609.92. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 5,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.65, for a total transaction of $189,831.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 655,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,677,014.80. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,991 shares of company stock worth $742,654. Insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on TWST. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TWST opened at $30.93 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.31. The company has a current ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.15 and a beta of 2.54. Twist Bioscience Co. has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $60.90.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.10). Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 32.69% and a negative net margin of 59.76%. The firm had revenue of $92.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of synthetic DNA-based products. The company offers synthetic genes and gene fragments used in product development for therapeutics, diagnostics, chemicals/materials, food/agriculture, data storage, and various applications within academic research by biotech, pharma, industrial chemical, and agricultural companies, as well as academic labs; Oligo pools used in targeted NGS, CRISPR gene editing, mutagenesis experiments, DNA origami, DNA computing, data storage in DNA, and other applications; and immunoglobulin G proteins for customers focused on the pursuit of drug discovery and development.