Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $1.46 and last traded at $1.59, with a volume of 30525697 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $2.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GERN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Geron from $5.50 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.91.

Geron Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $998.03 million, a PE ratio of -5.08 and a beta of 0.53. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.83.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 2,612 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its holdings in Geron by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Geron by 23.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 4,094 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Geron by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,401 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Geron by 68.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 7,429 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.