Short Interest in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Decreases By 16.3%

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 58,410,000 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the February 13th total of 69,770,000 shares. Currently, 10.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 14,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Geron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geron during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Geron in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Fifth Lane Capital LP purchased a new position in Geron in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geron Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of Geron stock traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $1.82. The company had a trading volume of 26,700,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,908,553. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.69 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. Geron has a 1 year low of $1.46 and a 1 year high of $5.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $2.42 and a 200-day moving average of $3.47.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GERN shares. B. Riley lowered Geron from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $4.00 target price (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5.75.

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.