Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Up 4.4% – What’s Next?

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) was up 4.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.57 and last traded at $3.55. Approximately 4,794,582 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 10,397,970 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.15.

Geron Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $3.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of -11.16 and a beta of 0.51.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The company had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Geron’s revenue was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter valued at $200,268,000. Darwin Global Management Ltd. bought a new position in Geron in the second quarter valued at about $106,185,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Geron in the third quarter worth about $82,498,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Geron by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,565,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $102,193,000 after purchasing an additional 13,163,889 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Geron by 124.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 16,837,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $71,389,000 after purchasing an additional 9,342,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.