Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 18,369,678 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 62% from the previous session’s volume of 11,311,499 shares.The stock last traded at $1.55 and had previously closed at $1.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GERN shares. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley lowered Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Geron presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.75.

Geron Stock Down 6.6 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $945.80 million, a PE ratio of -4.64 and a beta of 0.54.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The firm had revenue of $47.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.29 million. Analysts expect that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Geron by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its position in Geron by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Geron by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,401 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Geron by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 24,414 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 7,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Geron in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.