Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Stake in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,053 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.23% of Twist Bioscience worth $6,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position 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 buying an additional 267 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake 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 valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 130,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,355,609.92. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 5,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.65, for a total transaction of $189,831.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 655,432 shares in the company, valued at $24,677,014.80. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,991 shares of company stock worth $742,654 over the last 90 days. 3.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:TWST opened at $28.16 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.95. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 52 week low of $27.80 and a 52 week high of $60.90. The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.33 and a beta of 2.54.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.10). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 59.76% and a negative return on equity of 32.69%. The firm had revenue of $92.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.00 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TWST shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.40.

About Twist Bioscience

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.