Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Up 6.6% - Here's What Happened

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) rose 6.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $1.54 and last traded at $1.55. Approximately 2,497,497 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 11,244,605 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GERN shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $4.00 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley downgraded Geron from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Geron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5.06.

Geron Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $984.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.36 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50-day moving average is $1.40 and its 200-day moving average is $2.23. The company has a quick ratio of 6.97, a current ratio of 7.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. Geron had a negative net margin of 119.54% and a negative return on equity of 47.86%. The business had revenue of $39.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12927.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GERN. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Geron in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Frisch Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Geron by 84.3% during the first quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in Geron in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Geron in the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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