Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.6667.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Stephens started coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of TWST stock opened at $41.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.61 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.64 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.26. Twist Bioscience has a one year low of $23.30 and a one year high of $55.33.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $99.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.40 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 27.40% and a negative net margin of 20.63%. Analysts predict that Twist Bioscience will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Paula Green sold 6,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.44, for a total transaction of $217,564.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 143,271 shares in the company, valued at $4,504,440.24. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 31,379 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.44, for a total value of $986,555.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 738,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,228,154.96. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 66,437 shares of company stock valued at $2,136,365 over the last quarter. 3.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 70.6% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Twist Bioscience by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter worth $97,000.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a synthetic biology company specializing in the development and commercialization of DNA-based products and solutions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has pioneered a proprietary silicon-based DNA synthesis platform designed for high-throughput production of synthetic genes and oligonucleotides. Twist leverages semiconductor manufacturing techniques to enable precise, scalable synthesis of DNA at speeds and volumes unattainable with traditional methods.

At the core of Twist’s offering is its proprietary platform that automates the synthesis of custom DNA fragments, gene libraries, and long oligonucleotides.