Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Down 3% - Here's Why

Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) were down 3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $4.20 and last traded at $4.20. Approximately 1,028,889 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 10,539,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GERN. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, August 9th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Geron to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Geron presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.06.

Geron Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of -11.83 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning raised its position in Geron by 23.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 92,784 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 17,837 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Geron by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 159,754 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 77,094 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Geron by 32.6% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,630 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,559 shares in the last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Geron during the second quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Geron in the second quarter worth about $539,000. 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.