Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Up 6.4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Geron shares rose 6.4% to $1.575 during Tuesday trading, although volume was about 90% below the stock’s average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remained mixed: Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock to “sell (e+),” while the broader analyst consensus was “Hold” with a $4.00 target price.
• Geron reported a quarterly loss of $0.02 per share, missing estimates by $0.01, but revenue of $57.48 million exceeded expectations. The company’s lead drug candidate, imetelstat, is undergoing Phase II and Phase III trials for blood cancers.

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) traded up 6.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $1.56 and last traded at $1.5750. 1,558,009 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 14,972,073 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Geron from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Geron Stock Up 7.1%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 6.91 and a quick ratio of 5.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.41 and a beta of 0.61.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $57.48 million for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GERN. 55 North Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Geron during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. LCM Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Geron by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Vistica Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Geron during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Geron by 3,307.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 25,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 24,410 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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