Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading Down 12.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)’s stock price dropped 12.1% on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $58.00 to $45.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Twist Bioscience traded as low as $35.37 and last traded at $35.41. Approximately 162,171 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 969,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.27.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TWST. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim set a $50.00 price target on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,355,609.92. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Chess sold 2,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.13, for a total value of $156,202.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,531.49. This trade represents a 13.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,796 shares of company stock worth $1,077,383 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Light Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,984,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 15,927.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 846,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,319,000 after purchasing an additional 840,828 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,505,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,040 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Twist Bioscience by 19.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,167,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,101,000 after buying an additional 526,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 188.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 797,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,042,000 after buying an additional 521,272 shares during the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 9.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of -10.84 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.71. The company has a current ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $88.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.75) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 EPS for the current 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.