Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Down 7.1% – What’s Next?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s stock price traded down 7.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $1.24 and last traded at $1.2450. 11,808,747 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 14,935,776 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Geron from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Geron Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 6.78 and a quick ratio of 4.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $827.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.73 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.46.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $51.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.59 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 35.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.31%. On average, analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GERN. 55 North Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Geron during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Vistica Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Geron during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Geron during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 3,307.6% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 25,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 24,410 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.