Cerity Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,160 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Twist Bioscience were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the third quarter valued at about $95,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TWST opened at $37.62 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a current ratio of 4.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of -11.13 and a beta of 2.34. Twist Bioscience Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.76 and a fifty-two week high of $60.90.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $88.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.75) EPS. Twist Bioscience’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Paula Green sold 1,259 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.35, for a total transaction of $62,131.65. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 132,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,514,890.90. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Patrick John Finn sold 2,845 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.35, for a total transaction of $140,400.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 269,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,284,970.65. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,374 shares of company stock worth $955,871. 3.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TWST has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Guggenheim set a $50.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.80.

Twist Bioscience 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.