Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Lowers Holdings in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. decreased its holdings in Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,612,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 247,883 shares during the period. Twist Bioscience makes up approximately 1.3% of Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Twist Bioscience were worth $121,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 72.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter valued at about $95,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the period.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

Shares of TWST opened at $39.96 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.29. Twist Bioscience Co. has a 52-week low of $27.41 and a 52-week high of $60.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.82 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.09. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 32.69% and a negative net margin of 59.76%. The company had revenue of $88.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.75) EPS. Twist Bioscience’s quarterly revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Twist Bioscience Co. will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set 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 issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Twist Bioscience

In related news, Director Robert Chess sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,050. This represents a 23.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $37,555.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,355,609.92. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,712 shares of company stock valued at $1,597,720 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

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.