Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading Up 4.9% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) rose 4.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1.40 and last traded at $1.3950. Approximately 1,232,844 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 10,782,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, October 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geron currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Geron Trading Up 4.9%

The firm has a market cap of $890.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.63 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.87, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.32.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $47.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.24 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 29.63% and a negative net margin of 43.61%. As a group, research analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Geron by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 8,123 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Geron by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 9,849 shares during the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP now owns 80,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Geron by 73.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 11,074 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Geron by 73.6% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 26,371 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 11,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Company Profile

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.