Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) Shares Down 7.3% After Insider Selling

Castle Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTL) was down 7.3% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $28.48 and last traded at $28.58. Approximately 177,806 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 325,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.83.

Specifically, insider Derek J. Maetzold sold 1,972 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.15, for a total transaction of $67,343.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,995,638. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CSTL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Castle Biosciences from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Castle Biosciences from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Castle Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on Castle Biosciences from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Castle Biosciences from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.88.

Castle Biosciences Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.21. The company has a quick ratio of 7.64, a current ratio of 7.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $809.21 million, a PE ratio of 142.91 and a beta of 0.99.

Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.14. Castle Biosciences had a return on equity of 1.47% and a net margin of 1.95%. The company had revenue of $85.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Castle Biosciences, Inc. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Castle Biosciences

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Castle Biosciences by 54.4% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Castle Biosciences by 1,889.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,383 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Castle Biosciences by 16.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Castle Biosciences by 64.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Castle Biosciences by 10.7% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

About Castle Biosciences

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.