Portolan Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Castle Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTL)

Portolan Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Castle Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTL - Free Report) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 776,579 shares of the company's stock after selling 479,049 shares during the period. Castle Biosciences accounts for 1.4% of Portolan Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Portolan Capital Management LLC owned about 2.77% of Castle Biosciences worth $20,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Castle Biosciences by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,832,535 shares of the company's stock worth $48,837,000 after purchasing an additional 83,783 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Castle Biosciences by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,538,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,879,000 after buying an additional 40,377 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Castle Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at $19,244,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Castle Biosciences by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 685,000 shares of the company's stock worth $18,255,000 after acquiring an additional 195,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Castle Biosciences by 9.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 680,001 shares of the company's stock worth $19,394,000 after acquiring an additional 60,924 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CSTL. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Castle Biosciences from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim set a $30.00 price target on Castle Biosciences and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.75.

Insider Activity at Castle Biosciences

In other news, insider Derek J. Maetzold sold 22,639 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.12, for a total value of $455,496.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,955.80. This represents a 21.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel Bradbury sold 7,867 shares of Castle Biosciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $221,613.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,085 shares of company stock worth $748,045. Insiders own 7.20% of the company's stock.

Castle Biosciences Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSTL traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.51. 454,033 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 382,391. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.86. Castle Biosciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.97 and a 12-month high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 7.64 and a current ratio of 7.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $620.46 million, a PE ratio of 107.56 and a beta of 1.11.

Castle Biosciences Company Profile

Castle Biosciences, Inc, a molecular diagnostics company, provides testing solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of dermatologic cancers, Barrett's esophagus, uveal melanoma, and mental health conditions. It offers DecisionDx-Melanoma, a risk stratification gene expression profile (GEP) test to identify the risk of metastasis for patients diagnosed with invasive cutaneous melanoma; DecisionDx-SCC, a proprietary risk stratification GEP test for patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma; MyPath Melanoma, a test used for patients with difficult-to-diagnose melanocytic lesions; and TissueCypher, a spatial omics test to predict future development of high-grade dysplasia and/or esophageal cancer in patients with non-dysplastic, indefinite dysplasia, or low-grade dysplasia Barrett's esophagus.