Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Down 7.6%

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) fell 7.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $4.31 and last traded at $4.39. 4,553,689 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 10,989,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GERN shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Geron to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $9.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $7.07.

Geron Trading Down 7.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.69 and a beta of 0.48. The company's 50-day moving average price is $4.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.81. The company has a quick ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10). Geron had a negative return on equity of 73.79% and a negative net margin of 15,990.68%. The business had revenue of $0.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2941.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Geron Co. will post -0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Geron

In related news, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 674,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.56, for a total transaction of $3,075,026.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Geron news, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 674,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.56, for a total value of $3,075,026.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Faye Feller sold 287,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.63, for a total value of $1,332,977.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Geron by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,869,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $98,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,713 shares during the last quarter. Vivo Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Geron by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 24,143,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $50,943,000 after acquiring an additional 7,619,047 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Global Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $106,185,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Geron by 124.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 16,837,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $71,389,000 after acquiring an additional 9,342,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,842,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,108,000 after acquiring an additional 208,170 shares during the last quarter. 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.