Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) shares fell 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $1.64 and last traded at $1.64. 2,307,806 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 11,339,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on GERN shares. B. Riley downgraded Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.68.

Geron Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $2.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.11 and a beta of 0.53.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). The business had revenue of $47.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. On average, research analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Geron by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its holdings in Geron by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Geron by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,401 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Geron by 68.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 7,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Geron by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 24,414 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 7,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

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.