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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GERN has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.75.

Geron Trading Down 1.8 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.13 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $47.54 million during 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Geron during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. 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.