Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Down 5.2% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Geron shares fell 5.2% in Friday midday trading to about $1.46, while trading volume was roughly 85% below the stock’s average daily volume.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $4.00; ratings include two Buys, two Holds and one Sell.
• Geron’s latest quarterly results missed earnings expectations, reporting a loss of $0.02 per share versus the $0.01 expected, though revenue of $57.48 million exceeded estimates.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $1.46 and last traded at $1.4550. 2,265,197 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 14,869,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.5350.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Geron from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geron has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.00.

Geron Trading Down 5.2%

The stock has a market cap of $934.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.23 and a beta of 0.61. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 6.91 and a quick ratio of 5.16.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.01). Geron had a negative return on equity of 24.48% and a negative net margin of 34.17%.The business had revenue of $57.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.30 million. On average, research analysts predict that Geron Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Geron by 144.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,799,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062,355 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 826.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,218,196 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978,839 shares in the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 6.7% in the first quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 18,834,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $28,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174,900 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Geron by 38.1% in the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 3,921,476 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,843,000 after buying an additional 1,081,992 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Geron by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,660,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $47,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,844 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geron Company Profile

Geron Corporation NASDAQ: GERN is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing novel treatments that target telomerase, an enzyme critical to cancer cell immortality. The company's research is focused on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, with a pipeline designed to address diseases that have historically had limited therapeutic options.

The lead product candidate, imetelstat, is a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor currently in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes.

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