Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Downgraded by Evercore to In-Line

Evercore downgraded shares of Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) from an outperform rating to an in-line rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $102.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on TWST. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $89.00 price target on Twist Bioscience in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.30.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TWST traded down $5.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $94.55. 75,604 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,505,001. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.79 and its 200 day moving average is $54.48. Twist Bioscience has a one year low of $23.30 and a one year high of $105.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 2.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of -71.73 and a beta of 2.11.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.22). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 26.73%. The business had revenue of $110.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. Twist Bioscience’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience will post -2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Twist Bioscience

In related news, insider Dennis Cho sold 14,205 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $1,274,898.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 105,141 shares in the company, valued at $9,436,404.75. The trade was a 11.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.32, for a total transaction of $25,410.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 120,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,514,550.48. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 67,580 shares of company stock worth $5,169,482 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.08% 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 the business. Quarry LP bought a new position in Twist Bioscience in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the first quarter worth $31,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Strategic Advocates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 562.7% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period.

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.