Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading Down 6% - Should You Sell?

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 traded down 6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $1.19 and last traded at $1.19. 6,574,183 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 12,633,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Geron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Geron in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $1.00 price target for the company. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.61.

Geron Stock Up 0.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $735.64 million, a P/E ratio of -5.45 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 7.87, a quick ratio of 6.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.74.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. Geron had a negative return on equity of 47.86% and a negative net margin of 119.54%. The business had revenue of $39.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.07) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12927.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Geron by 101.2% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 60,379,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $96,003,000 after acquiring an additional 30,369,830 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Geron by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,146,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $54,293,000 after purchasing an additional 608,029 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Geron by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,082,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $95,769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,516,615 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP lifted its position in Geron by 100.0% during the first quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 22,005,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $34,988,000 after purchasing an additional 11,005,340 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Geron by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,510,114 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $47,826,000 after purchasing an additional 847,710 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.