Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Geron shares fell to a new 52-week low, trading as low as $0.86 before recovering slightly to $0.902, down sharply from the prior close of $1.15 on heavy volume.
• Weiss Ratings downgraded Geron from “sell (d-)” to “sell (e+),” while Wall Street’s overall consensus remains “Hold” with a $4.00 target price.
• Geron reported a quarterly loss of $0.02 per share, missing estimates by $0.01, although revenue of $57.48 million exceeded expectations; institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the stock.

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $0.86 and last traded at $0.9020, with a volume of 19,432,005 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Geron from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Geron Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $587.22 million, a P/E ratio of -8.38 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.43.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $57.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.30 million. On average, research analysts predict that Geron Corporation will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Geron during the second quarter valued at about $62,868,000. Eversept Partners LP grew its position in Geron by 6.7% during the first quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 18,834,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $28,064,000 after buying an additional 1,174,900 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Geron during the second quarter valued at about $15,648,000. Pale Fire Capital SE increased its stake in Geron by 2.1% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 4,888,304 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,284,000 after acquiring an additional 99,710 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Geron by 68.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,556,278 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $6,789,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,268 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geron Company Profile

Geron Corporation NASDAQ: GERN is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for blood cancers and other serious hematologic diseases. Its lead product, Rytelo (imetelstat), is a telomerase inhibitor designed to target malignant blood-forming cells.

Rytelo is approved in the United States for adults with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes who have transfusion-dependent anemia requiring regular red blood cell transfusions and have not responded adequately to, or are not eligible for, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.