Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading 9.9% Higher - Still a Buy?

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) shares rose 9.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1.58 and last traded at $1.57. Approximately 5,268,248 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 11,828,186 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Geron Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1.38 and a 200-day moving average of $2.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $993.59 million, a P/E ratio of -4.88 and a beta of 0.76.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $39.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.88 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. Geron's revenue was up 12927.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Geron by 89.1% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 220,935 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 104,075 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Geron by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,372,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,182,000 after buying an additional 104,840 shares in the last quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 106.0% in the 1st quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 3,215,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,113,000 after buying an additional 1,654,305 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Geron by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 8,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,130,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,387,000 after acquiring an additional 280,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Geron Company Profile

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.