Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Up 8.6% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) were up 8.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1.17 and last traded at $1.1950. Approximately 12,079,106 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 15,916,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Geron from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.50.

Geron Trading Up 0.9%

The company has a current ratio of 6.78, a quick ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $737.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.45 and a beta of 0.60.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $51.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.59 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 23.31% and a negative net margin of 35.48%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Geron Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Almitas Capital LLC acquired a new position in Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,296,000. Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 9,527,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,576,000 after buying an additional 3,556,160 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Geron by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,660,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,072,000 after buying an additional 1,237,844 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Geron in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Geron by 75.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 279,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 120,296 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.