Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Down 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s stock price fell 3.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $1.34 and last traded at $1.3450. Approximately 2,088,477 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 10,849,611 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GERN has been the subject of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.75.

Geron Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $855.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.17 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.87 and a current ratio of 5.96.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03). The company had revenue of $47.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.24 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 29.63% and a negative net margin of 43.61%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Geron by 84.3% during the 1st quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Geron during the second quarter worth $35,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Geron by 73.6% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 26,371 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 11,182 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 73.8% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 11,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 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.