Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading 7.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) was up 7.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $1.75 and last traded at $1.73. Approximately 1,832,205 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 14,848,028 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GERN. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.68.

Geron Trading Up 7.2 %

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 has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -5.36 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.62.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $47.54 million for 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Geron in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Geron during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Geron in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

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.