Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Up 8.6% – Time to Buy?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s share price rose 8.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1.17 and last traded at $1.1950. Approximately 12,079,106 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 15,916,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Geron from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

Geron Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.96, a current ratio of 6.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $755.71 million, a P/E ratio of -10.68 and a beta of 0.60.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. Geron had a negative net margin of 35.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.31%. The company had revenue of $51.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.59 million. As a group, analysts predict that Geron Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 55 North Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Geron in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. LCM Capital Management Inc raised its position in Geron by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Vistica Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Geron in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Geron in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Geron by 3,307.6% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 25,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 24,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

About Geron

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.