Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading Down 8.5% – Time to Sell?

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)’s share price dropped 8.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $2.85 and last traded at $2.90. Approximately 3,819,957 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 11,759,547 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GERN. Barclays raised Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Geron in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.25.

Geron Trading Down 10.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3.81 and its 200-day moving average is $4.22.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $28.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GERN. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 1,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new position in Geron during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV bought a new stake in Geron during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Geron in the third quarter valued at about $68,000. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.