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

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CSTL. Guggenheim raised their target price on Castle Biosciences from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Castle Biosciences to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research note on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Castle Biosciences from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Castle Biosciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.57.

Castle Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSTL opened at $27.57 on Monday. Castle Biosciences has a twelve month low of $14.59 and a twelve month high of $44.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.41. The company has a market capitalization of $819.66 million, a PE ratio of -32.44 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 5.11, a current ratio of 5.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $81.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.19 million. Castle Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 0.89% and a negative net margin of 7.02%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Castle Biosciences will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Castle Biosciences

In related news, COO Kristen M. Oelschlager sold 14,888 shares of Castle Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $585,247.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,417.13. The trade was a 54.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Derek J. Maetzold sold 817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total transaction of $31,037.83. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 83,698 shares in the company, valued at $3,179,687.02. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,617 shares of company stock worth $1,167,887. Insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Castle Biosciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Castle Biosciences during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Castle Biosciences by 139,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Castle Biosciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Castle Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Castle Biosciences by 80.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.