Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) by 64.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 134,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 239,744 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Twist Bioscience worth $5,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TWST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 542,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,225,000 after buying an additional 17,890 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the fourth quarter worth $1,427,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at $2,224,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Twist Bioscience by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,678 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total transaction of $60,005.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,782 shares in the company, valued at $23,093,164.32. This represents a 0.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 2,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.15, for a total value of $93,429.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 103,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,951,157.35. The trade was a 2.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,961 shares of company stock valued at $877,006 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TWST. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Twist Bioscience from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Twist Bioscience from $58.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.40.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

Shares of Twist Bioscience stock opened at $36.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Twist Bioscience Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.12 and a 52 week high of $60.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.29 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.66.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.10). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 54.98% and a negative return on equity of 33.48%. The firm had revenue of $92.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.00 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation 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.