Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

CSTL has been the subject of several other research reports. Guggenheim raised their target price on Castle Biosciences from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on Castle Biosciences from $35.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Castle Biosciences from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Castle Biosciences from $37.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Castle Biosciences to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Castle Biosciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.57.

Castle Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of Castle Biosciences stock opened at $28.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 5.11 and a current ratio of 5.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.38. Castle Biosciences has a twelve month low of $14.59 and a twelve month high of $44.28. The firm has a market cap of $837.49 million, a P/E ratio of -33.14 and a beta of 1.09.

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $81.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.19 million. Castle Biosciences had a negative net margin of 7.02% and a negative return on equity of 0.89%. As a group, research analysts expect that Castle Biosciences will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Kristen M. Oelschlager sold 14,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $585,247.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $484,417.13. This represents a 54.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Derek J. Maetzold sold 4,017 shares of Castle Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $160,720.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 87,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,509,477.15. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 28,278 shares of company stock worth $1,114,287 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Castle Biosciences by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 23,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Castle Biosciences by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Castle Biosciences by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Castle Biosciences by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, HRT Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Castle Biosciences by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 47,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Castle Biosciences Company Profile

Castle Biosciences, Inc is a molecular diagnostics company specializing in the development and commercialization of prognostic and diagnostic tests for patients with dermatologic conditions. The company’s proprietary portfolio of genomic assays is designed to improve risk assessment and guide clinical decision-making for individuals with skin cancers and other skin-related diseases. By combining genomic data with advanced statistical algorithms, Castle Biosciences seeks to provide actionable insights that help physicians tailor treatment plans and monitoring strategies.

The company’s flagship test, DecisionDx-Melanoma, evaluates the probability of metastasis in patients diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma, supporting more personalized surveillance and therapeutic approaches.