Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Up 4.4% – Still a Buy?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GERN. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Geron in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Geron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.15.

Geron Trading Up 4.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.06 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.05. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The business had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Geron by 1,200.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV bought a new position in shares of Geron during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Geron by 32.7% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 3,805 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Geron in the third quarter worth approximately $67,000. 73.71% of the stock is currently 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.