Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Down 4.7% – Time to Sell?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s share price fell 4.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $1.51 and last traded at $1.5150. 7,599,703 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 14,445,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.59.

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, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Geron Trading Up 4.0%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.47 and a 200-day moving average of $1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.27 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 6.91, a quick ratio of 5.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Geron by 2.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 8,123 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Geron by 8.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,372,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 104,840 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Geron by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 550,871 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 42,345 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Geron by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 873,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 34,437 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Geron by 72.3% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 79,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 33,352 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

About Geron

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.