Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Up 5.6% – Should You Buy?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s share price was up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1.43 and last traded at $1.4150. Approximately 3,145,037 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 10,843,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GERN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geron presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Geron Trading Up 6.3%

The business’s fifty day moving average is $1.22 and its 200-day moving average is $1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $909.65 million, a PE ratio of -11.88 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.87, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03). Geron had a negative net margin of 43.61% and a negative return on equity of 29.63%. The company had revenue of $47.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the period. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Geron by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 26,371 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 11,182 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised 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. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Geron in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

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.