Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading 9.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)’s share price was up 9.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $46.91 and last traded at $46.81. Approximately 123,251 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 617,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TWST shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Twist Bioscience from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.90.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of -12.74 and a beta of 1.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.32.

Insider Transactions at Twist Bioscience

In related news, CAO Robert F. Werner sold 1,448 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.60, for a total transaction of $64,580.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 45,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,652. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 4,160 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.60, for a total value of $185,536.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 89,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,979,970.20. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,640 shares of company stock worth $4,123,772 over the last three months. 3.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TWST. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 3.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 14.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 28,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 51.4% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 5,473.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 17,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 16,858 shares during the period.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

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.