Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Down 3% – Here’s Why

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)’s stock price was down 3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $1.77 and last traded at $1.77. Approximately 1,451,958 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 14,617,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.75.

Geron Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.43 and a beta of 0.53.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The company had revenue of $47.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.29 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GERN. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in Geron in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,268,000. Nvest Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter worth $693,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Geron by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,565,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $102,193,000 after acquiring an additional 13,163,889 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 114.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,299,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,902,000 after acquiring an additional 694,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Geron by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,523,864 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,014,000 after acquiring an additional 73,482 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Geron Company Profile

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.