Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Up 5.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Geron shares jumped 5.6% to about $1.415 mid-day on Wednesday, with roughly 3.15 million shares traded — a 71% drop versus average daily volume.
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $2.75 (3 Buys, 4 Holds, 2 Sells), and Needham recently trimmed its price objective from $5.00 to $4.00 while keeping a Buy.
• Fundamentals show a market cap near $910M, Q-quarter EPS of ($0.03) (in line with estimates) but revenue missed expectations ($47.23M vs. $55.24M); the company’s lead drug, imetelstat, is in Phase 3 for myeloid hematologic malignancies and institutional investors own about 73.7% of the stock.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) rose 5.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1.43 and last traded at $1.4150. Approximately 3,145,037 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 10,843,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GERN shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, October 31st. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $2.75.

Geron Trading Up 6.3%

The firm has a market cap of $909.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.88 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.87 and a current ratio of 5.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.32.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $47.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.24 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 29.63% and a negative net margin of 43.61%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Geron by 101.2% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 60,379,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $96,003,000 after purchasing an additional 30,369,830 shares during the last quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Geron by 572.5% in the 2nd quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $22,757,000 after buying an additional 13,740,000 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP grew its holdings in Geron by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 22,005,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,988,000 after buying an additional 11,005,340 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Geron during the third quarter worth $12,364,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 97.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 11,367,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $15,574,000 after acquiring an additional 5,620,635 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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