Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading 5.1% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) were up 5.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $1.37 and last traded at $1.34. Approximately 2,316,338 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 11,441,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley cut Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.75.

Geron Stock Up 10.2 %

The company’s 50 day moving average is $1.76 and its 200 day moving average is $3.01. The company has a market cap of $891.68 million, a PE ratio of -4.38 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $47.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. As a group, analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Geron during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Geron during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Geron during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Company Profile

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis.