Insider Selling: Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Sells $81,206.20 in Stock

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,730 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total transaction of $81,206.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 495,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,259,849.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Twist Bioscience Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of TWST opened at $47.08 on Friday. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 12-month low of $14.42 and a 12-month high of $60.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.24. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.01 and a beta of 1.76.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported ($1.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.71). The firm had revenue of $81.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.40 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 32.17% and a negative net margin of 74.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.01) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on TWST. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Impact Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 16.1% during the second quarter. Capital Impact Advisors LLC now owns 20,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 2,821 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 114.8% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 27,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 14,590 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 63.0% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 388,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,152,000 after acquiring an additional 150,260 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC raised its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 102.7% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 31,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 15,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Twist Bioscience by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period.

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.