ARK Investment Management LLC Acquires 237,772 Shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,595,865 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 237,772 shares during the quarter. Twist Bioscience comprises about 2.2% of ARK Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. ARK Investment Management LLC owned approximately 9.43% of Twist Bioscience worth $260,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TWST. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in Twist Bioscience during the third quarter worth about $43,992,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,167,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,101,000 after buying an additional 526,028 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 188.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 797,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,042,000 after buying an additional 521,272 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 680,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,636,000 after buying an additional 302,884 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 81.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,405,000 after buying an additional 168,687 shares during the period.

Twist Bioscience Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Twist Bioscience stock opened at $40.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of -12.07 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a current ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.80 and its 200 day moving average is $45.70. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 1 year low of $27.41 and a 1 year high of $60.90.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last posted its 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 the consensus estimate of $86.96 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.75) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Chess sold 2,940 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.13, for a total transaction of $156,202.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,173 shares in the company, valued at $965,531.49. This trade represents a 13.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 5,886 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $254,628.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 110,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,762,752.96. This represents a 5.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,180 shares of company stock worth $1,821,971 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.40.

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.