Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Up 4.2% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Geron Corporation's stock price increased by 4.2% to $1.37, with trading volume significantly down by 72% from the average.
• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a "sell" rating and a price target of $1.00, while the average analyst rating for the stock is currently "Hold" with a price target of $3.79.
• Institutional investors own 73.71% of Geron's stock, with notable increases in positions from Frisch Financial Group and Savant Capital during the past quarters.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) rose 4.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1.37 and last traded at $1.37. Approximately 3,267,361 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 11,697,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Geron in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $1.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $3.79.

Geron Stock Up 4.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 6.79 and a current ratio of 7.87. The firm has a market cap of $874.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.54 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.40.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.01. Geron had a negative return on equity of 31.37% and a negative net margin of 53.52%.The company had revenue of $49.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5455.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frisch Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Geron by 84.3% in the first quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the first quarter worth about $39,000. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Geron by 73.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 11,074 shares during the period. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Geron in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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