Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 59,890,000 shares, a growth of 31.3% from the March 15th total of 45,630,000 shares. Approximately 10.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Geron by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,401 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Geron by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 24,414 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 7,592 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Geron by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geron Price Performance

NASDAQ GERN traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $1.41. The company had a trading volume of 5,716,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,490,727. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The company's fifty day moving average price is $1.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $894.86 million, a PE ratio of -4.39 and a beta of 0.66. Geron has a 12-month low of $1.17 and a 12-month high of $5.34.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley downgraded Geron from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $3.50 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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.com, Geron presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.75.

About Geron

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.