Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $1.38, but opened at $1.33. Geron shares last traded at $1.37, with a volume of 406,025 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GERN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday. They set a "sell" rating and a $1.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank cut Geron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $4.00 to $1.50 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.61.

Geron Stock Down 4.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $840.73 million, a P/E ratio of -6.29 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 6.97 and a current ratio of 7.87. The firm's fifty day moving average is $1.43 and its 200-day moving average is $1.95.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. Geron had a negative net margin of 119.54% and a negative return on equity of 47.86%. The firm had revenue of $39.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.07) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12927.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Geron during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Geron by 84.3% during the first quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. 73.71% of the stock is 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.