Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $52.49, but opened at $49.90. Twist Bioscience shares last traded at $49.73, with a volume of 213,406 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TWST. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Stephens started coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, November 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.88.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 7.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.78 and a quick ratio of 3.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.59 and a 200-day moving average of $33.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.96 and a beta of 2.24.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $103.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.32 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.56% and a negative return on equity of 27.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Adam Laponis sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 130,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,501,550. This represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 5,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.58, for a total value of $232,946.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 869,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,492,552.96. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 36,609 shares of company stock valued at $1,665,151 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TWST. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Twist Bioscience by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its position in Twist Bioscience by 562.7% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

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.