Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) Stock Lifted to Buy by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $36.00 price target on Castle Biosciences in a report on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho started coverage on Castle Biosciences in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Castle Biosciences from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.25.

Castle Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSTL opened at $37.16 on Friday. Castle Biosciences has a 1 year low of $17.72 and a 1 year high of $44.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 6.04 and a quick ratio of 5.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -56.30 and a beta of 1.00.

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 5.43% and a negative return on equity of 4.15%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Castle Biosciences will post -1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Castle Biosciences

In other news, insider Derek Maetzold sold 8,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $273,787.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,484 shares in the company, valued at $398,364.44. The trade was a 40.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $480,148.20. The trade was a 23.72% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders sold 165,200 shares of company stock worth $5,536,757. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Castle Biosciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSTL. Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Castle Biosciences during the second quarter worth about $5,681,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Castle Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $78,513,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Castle Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,338,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Castle Biosciences in the second quarter worth approximately $3,395,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Castle Biosciences by 387.3% in the 1st 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.