Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading Up 10.9% – Should You Buy?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s stock price was up 10.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $1.58 and last traded at $1.5750. Approximately 3,071,413 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 14,851,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on GERN shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.17.

Geron Trading Up 10.3%

The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.05 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 4.87, a current ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $48.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.43 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 46.65% and a negative return on equity of 28.86%. Equities analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Geron by 5,092.3% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 38,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 37,581 shares during the period. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $1,027,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Geron in the fourth quarter valued at $171,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,225,658 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 265,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 91,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 46,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

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.