Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Down 5.6% - Time to Sell?

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 5.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $37.42 and last traded at $36.98. 144,446 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 941,669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TWST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $58.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.40.

Twist Bioscience Trading Up 4.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.28 and a beta of 2.15. The business's 50-day moving average is $46.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Insider Transactions at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,654 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.90, for a total value of $74,264.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 673,064 shares in the company, valued at $30,220,573.60. This trade represents a 0.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $37,555.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,912 shares in the company, valued at $5,355,609.92. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,845 shares of company stock worth $1,603,945. Insiders own 3.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TWST. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Twist Bioscience by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Twist Bioscience by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 78,000 shares of the company's stock worth $3,625,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C boosted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 23,827 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter.

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.