Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading Up 9% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Geron Corporation's stock price surged by 9% to $1.40 following FDA panel approval for its blood cancer therapy, Imetelstat.
• Despite the recent rise, analysts have mixed opinions, with ratings ranging from a sell to a strong buy, and a consensus target price set at $4.19.
• Geron's revenue increased significantly by 5455.6% year-over-year, reporting $49.04 million for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $1.41 and last traded at $1.40. Approximately 6,507,618 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 12,722,346 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GERN has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Geron in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $1.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $4.19.

Geron Stock Performance

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's 50 day moving average is $1.39 and its 200-day moving average is $1.65. The firm has a market cap of $867.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.46 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Institutional Trading of Geron

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Geron by 235.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 357,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 250,752 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its holdings in Geron by 16.0% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 143,832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 19,812 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Geron by 4.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $19,956,000 after buying an additional 584,444 shares during the period. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. acquired a new position in Geron in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,937,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Geron by 73.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 11,074 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is 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.

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