Baillie Gifford & Co. Acquires 132,770 Shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,227,528 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 132,770 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 2.12% of Twist Bioscience worth $42,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,213,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,881,000 after purchasing an additional 427,274 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 111.3% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,723,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,621 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,583,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,086,000 after purchasing an additional 99,511 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,583,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,835,000 after purchasing an additional 99,511 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,267,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,732,000 after acquiring an additional 284,884 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.50.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

NASDAQ:TWST traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.47. 363,555 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,070,334. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 12-month low of $14.42 and a 12-month high of $55.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.43 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.80.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.79) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.84) by $0.05. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 31.61% and a negative net margin of 69.24%. The company had revenue of $75.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.06) EPS. Twist Bioscience’s revenue was up 25.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -3.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Twist Bioscience news, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.33, for a total transaction of $47,120.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,650,138.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.33, for a total value of $47,120.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 90,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,650,138.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 4,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.13, for a total value of $154,572.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 509,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,935,780.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,284 shares of company stock worth $804,417. Company insiders own 3.92% of the company’s stock.

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.