Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Up 9% – Here’s What Happened

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)’s stock price rose 9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1.74 and last traded at $1.76. Approximately 12,231,466 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 14,192,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GERN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Geron from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday. HC Wainwright downgraded Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.68.

Geron Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 0.53.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $47.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 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 company. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its stake in Geron by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 330,911 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 80,200 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Geron by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,267,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,000 after buying an additional 246,433 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Geron by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,587,344 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,019,000 after buying an additional 4,549,031 shares during the period. Finally, Velan Capital Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter worth about $173,000. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Geron

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.