Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading Down 3.1% - Here's What Happened

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $4.04 and last traded at $4.04. Approximately 841,310 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 10,335,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GERN. Leerink Partners started coverage on Geron in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Geron to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.05.

Geron Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -12.88 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.32.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.05. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The business had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at $200,268,000. Darwin Global Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Geron during the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,185,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Geron in the third quarter valued at approximately $82,498,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,565,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $102,193,000 after acquiring an additional 13,163,889 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Geron by 124.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 16,837,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $71,389,000 after purchasing an additional 9,342,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Company Profile

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.