Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Up 10.9% – Time to Buy?

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) shares rose 10.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $1.58 and last traded at $1.5750. 3,071,413 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 14,851,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GERN shares. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.17.

Geron Stock Up 7.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 4.66 and a quick ratio of 4.87. The company has a market capitalization of $980.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.77 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.36.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $48.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.43 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 46.65% and a negative return on equity of 28.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. RA Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Geron by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 63,771,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $84,178,000 after buying an additional 3,392,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,660,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,072,000 after buying an additional 1,237,844 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,867,322 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,465,000 after acquiring an additional 248,508 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 23,775,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,769,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eversept Partners LP increased its position in shares of Geron by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 17,659,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,311,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.