Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Down 2.5% – Here’s Why

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)’s share price was down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $3.57 and last traded at $3.57. Approximately 2,547,510 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 10,115,950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GERN shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Geron in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank began coverage on Geron in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.15.

Geron Trading Down 4.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of -10.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.36.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $28.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GERN. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 1,200.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Geron in the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV bought a new stake in shares of Geron during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Geron during the third quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at $68,000. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

About Geron

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis.