Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Up 6.4% – Still a Buy?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) traded up 6.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1.56 and last traded at $1.5750. 1,558,009 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 14,972,073 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Geron Stock Up 7.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.41 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.47. The company has a current ratio of 6.91, a quick ratio of 5.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $57.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.30 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 24.48% and a negative net margin of 34.17%. Equities research analysts forecast that Geron Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 8,123 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Geron by 8.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,372,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,182,000 after acquiring an additional 104,840 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Geron by 8.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 550,871 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 42,345 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Geron by 4.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 873,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 34,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Geron by 72.3% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 79,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 33,352 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.