Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.40.

Several research firms have weighed in on TWST. Wolfe Research started coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Barclays set a $58.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

TWST stock opened at $40.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of -11.94 and a beta of 2.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.37. Twist Bioscience has a one year low of $27.41 and a one year high of $60.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a current ratio of 4.96.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $88.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.75) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $37,555.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 130,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,355,609.92. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Chess sold 2,940 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.13, for a total value of $156,202.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $965,531.49. The trade was a 13.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,799 shares of company stock worth $1,593,944 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TWST. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Twist Bioscience by 215.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 20,035 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 214.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 153,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,913,000 after acquiring an additional 104,420 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 218,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,875,000 after purchasing an additional 12,327 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,059,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Twist Bioscience by 128.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 38,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 21,357 shares during the last quarter.

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.