Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Short Interest Down 5.4% in November

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 66,350,000 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 70,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days.

Geron Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GERN traded up $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $3.93. The stock had a trading volume of 8,190,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,166,356. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.28 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $4.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.36. Geron has a one year low of $1.64 and a one year high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17138.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Geron will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GERN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.15.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Global Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron during the second quarter worth about $106,185,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Geron during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,315,000. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Geron in the third quarter worth $200,268,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geron during the second quarter worth $539,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 124.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 16,837,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $71,389,000 after buying an additional 9,342,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.