Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) Shares Up 4.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Castle Biosciences shares rose 4.3% to $34.88 in midday trading, although volume was 76% below the average daily level.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $42 price target; BTIG recently raised its target to $44.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting a loss of $0.07 per share versus the projected $0.41 loss and revenue of $99.86 million versus an $86.23 million estimate. Insiders have nevertheless sold about $5.35 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Shares of Castle Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTL - Get Free Report) shot up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $34.93 and last traded at $34.88. 93,663 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 393,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSTL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Castle Biosciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Castle Biosciences from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Castle Biosciences from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $36.00 price objective on Castle Biosciences in a report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Castle Biosciences Price Performance

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $29.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.36 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 6.04, a quick ratio of 5.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.41) by $0.34. Castle Biosciences had a negative net margin of 5.43% and a negative return on equity of 4.15%. The business had revenue of $99.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.23 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Castle Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Derek J. Maetzold sold 20,356 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.11, for a total value of $633,275.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,479 shares in the company, valued at $668,211.69. This represents a 48.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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 Oelschlager sold 12,384 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total value of $426,257.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 72,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,500,578.58. This represents a 14.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 175,758 shares of company stock worth $5,348,870. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Castle Biosciences

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Castle Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,681,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Castle Biosciences in the second quarter worth approximately $78,513,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Castle Biosciences by 387.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 45,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 36,144 shares during the period. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 658,725 shares during the period. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its position in shares of Castle Biosciences by 285.0% in the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 67,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 49,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

About Castle Biosciences

Castle Biosciences, Inc is a molecular diagnostics company that develops and commercializes tests designed to help physicians make more informed decisions about cancer diagnosis and treatment. Its products use genomic and molecular information to assess disease characteristics, patient risk and likely outcomes.

The company's portfolio includes DecisionDx-Melanoma, which helps assess the risk of metastasis in patients with cutaneous melanoma; DecisionDx-SCC, which evaluates metastatic risk in certain patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma; and MyPath Melanoma, which assists in distinguishing benign from malignant melanocytic lesions.

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