Empowered Funds LLC Acquires New Shares in Castle Biosciences, Inc. $CSTL

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Castle Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 142,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.47% of Castle Biosciences as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Castle Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $78,513,000. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Castle Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at $82,283,000. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Castle Biosciences by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC now owns 1,058,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,184,000 after purchasing an additional 658,725 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Castle Biosciences during the second quarter valued at about $15,440,000. Finally, AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Castle Biosciences in the second quarter worth about $13,001,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Kristen M. Oelschlager sold 12,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total value of $426,257.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 72,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,500,578.58. This represents a 14.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Derek J. Maetzold sold 20,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.11, for a total transaction of $633,275.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $668,211.69. This represents a 48.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 188,517 shares of company stock worth $5,612,900 over the last ninety days. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Castle Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSTL opened at $33.44 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.67 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 5.85, a current ratio of 6.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Castle Biosciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.72 and a 52-week high of $44.28.

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) last released 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. The business had revenue of $99.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.23 million. Castle Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 4.15% and a negative net margin of 5.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Castle Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSTL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Castle Biosciences from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp set a $35.00 price target on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Castle Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Castle Biosciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

About Castle Biosciences

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.