Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading Up 16.4% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Geron shares rose 16.4% to about $1.56 in mid-day trading, although volume was 66% below the stock’s average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Geron has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00, while Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock to “sell (e+).”
• The company reported a quarterly loss of $0.02 per share, missing expectations by $0.01, but institutional investors hold a substantial 73.71% stake and recently increased their positions.

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) traded up 16.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1.57 and last traded at $1.5601. 5,147,542 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 14,925,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut Geron from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Geron Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.41 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 4.96 and a current ratio of 6.78.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.01). Geron had a negative net margin of 35.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.31%. Equities research analysts predict that Geron Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Soleus Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Geron by 572.5% during the 2nd quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $22,757,000 after buying an additional 13,740,000 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,364,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Geron by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 11,367,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $15,574,000 after acquiring an additional 5,620,635 shares in the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP raised its position in shares of Geron by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 17,659,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $23,311,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Geron by 59.6% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 9,527,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $12,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,556,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Company Profile

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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