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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded Geron from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Geron Stock Down 3.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 5.16, a current ratio of 6.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.27 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Institutional Trading of Geron

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Geron by 144.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,799,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after buying an additional 1,062,355 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Geron by 826.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,218,196 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,304,000 after buying an additional 1,978,839 shares in the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 18,834,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,174,900 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,660,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,844 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 38.1% in the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 3,921,476 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081,992 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.