Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading 8.4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) traded up 8.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $1.49 and last traded at $1.4850. 4,999,785 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 10,692,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Geron Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of -13.13 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 4.87, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.30.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Geron by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,660,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,844 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP grew its position in Geron by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 23,775,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769,660 shares during the period. Soleus Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Geron by 572.5% during the second quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,757,000 after acquiring an additional 13,740,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Geron by 4.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,956,000 after acquiring an additional 584,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Geron by 97.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 11,367,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,574,000 after acquiring an additional 5,620,635 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.