Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Down 4.7% – Here’s Why

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s share price was down 4.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $1.51 and last traded at $1.5150. 7,599,703 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 14,445,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Geron from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Geron Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.47. The company has a market cap of $973.35 million, a P/E ratio of -13.77 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 6.91, a quick ratio of 5.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $57.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.30 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 24.48% and a negative net margin of 34.17%. On average, equities analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Geron in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GTS Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 71.6% in the 2nd quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 23,772 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 9,921 shares in the last quarter. Vistica Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Geron in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Geron by 3,307.6% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 25,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 24,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi bought a new stake in Geron in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Geron

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing novel treatments that target telomerase, an enzyme critical to cancer cell immortality. The company’s research is focused on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, with a pipeline designed to address diseases that have historically had limited therapeutic options.

The lead product candidate, imetelstat, is a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor currently in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes.