Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $1.30 and traded as high as $1.41. Geron shares last traded at $1.4050, with a volume of 11,474,263 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, October 31st. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

Geron Trading Up 4.9%

The stock has a market cap of $896.88 million, a P/E ratio of -11.71 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.30. 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 posted 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $55.24 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 73.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Geron by 73.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 11,074 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Geron in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Geron in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Geron during the third quarter valued at $45,000. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.