Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Castle Biosciences from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. BTIG Research raised their target price on Castle Biosciences from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $36.00 target price on Castle Biosciences in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Castle Biosciences Price Performance

CSTL opened at $33.08 on Friday. Castle Biosciences has a 1 year low of $17.72 and a 1 year high of $44.28. The company has a current ratio of 6.04, a quick ratio of 5.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.15.

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.41) by $0.34. Castle Biosciences had a negative net margin of 5.43% and a negative return on equity of 4.15%. The firm had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.23 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Castle Biosciences will post -1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Castle Biosciences

In related news, insider Derek Maetzold sold 8,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $273,787.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $398,364.44. This trade represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Kristen M. Oelschlager sold 4,153 shares of Castle Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total value of $149,300.35. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $480,148.20. The trade was a 23.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 221,442 shares of company stock valued at $7,105,266. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Castle Biosciences

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Castle Biosciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,681,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Castle Biosciences during the second quarter worth approximately $78,513,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Castle Biosciences in the second quarter worth approximately $2,338,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Castle Biosciences in the second quarter worth approximately $3,395,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Castle Biosciences by 387.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 45,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 36,144 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Castle Biosciences

Castle Biosciences, Inc is a molecular diagnostics company that develops and commercializes tests designed to help physicians diagnose cancer, assess disease risk and guide treatment decisions. The company focuses on conditions in which additional biological information can complement traditional pathology and clinical assessment.

Its portfolio includes DecisionDx-Melanoma, which helps evaluate the risk of metastatic recurrence in patients with cutaneous melanoma; DecisionDx-SCC, which assesses metastatic risk in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma; and DecisionDx-UM, a test for determining metastatic risk in uveal melanoma.