Insider Selling: Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells 5,200 Shares of Stock

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 5,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.35, for a total value of $256,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,932,143.30. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 2.6 %

TWST stock traded down $1.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.30. 883,044 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 786,851. The business's 50 day moving average price is $48.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of -15.47 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.96 and a quick ratio of 4.54. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 52-week low of $27.41 and a 52-week high of $60.90.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.09. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 59.76% and a negative return on equity of 32.69%. The company had revenue of $88.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.75) earnings per share. Twist Bioscience's revenue for the quarter was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TWST. Barclays reduced their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 63.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 792 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,436 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the third quarter valued at $95,000.

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.