Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Down 6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Geron Corporation's stock price fell **6%** during mid-day trading, reaching a low of **$1.19**, with trading volume down **48%** from the average.
• Analysts have set new price targets, with Goldman Sachs initiating coverage with a **$1.00** price objective, while Scotiabank downgraded its target from **$4.00** to **$1.50**.
• Geron reported a substantial revenue increase of **12927.3%** year-over-year, despite recording a **negative net margin** of **119.54%** in its most recent quarterly earnings.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $1.19 and last traded at $1.19. Approximately 6,574,183 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 12,633,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GERN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $1.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Geron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geron currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.61.

Geron Trading Down 8.7%

The firm has a market cap of $732.46 million, a PE ratio of -5.48 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.78.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12927.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Geron by 204.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 34,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 22,993 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Geron by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 284,724 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 63,789 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in Geron by 89.2% during the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 6,985,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,850,000 after buying an additional 3,293,179 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in Geron during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Summit Financial Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Geron during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 73.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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