Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - What's Next?

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 18,369,678 shares traded hands 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

A number of research firms have recently commented on GERN. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank cut their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays reiterated 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Geron Trading Down 6.1 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $878.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.31 and a beta of 0.66.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). The business had revenue of $47.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. On average, research analysts expect that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GERN. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its position in Geron by 947.6% in the fourth quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 11,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $38,940,000 after acquiring an additional 9,950,000 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP purchased a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth about $24,802,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Geron by 28.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,961,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $131,486,000 after buying an additional 6,413,204 shares during the period. Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Geron in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,240,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Geron by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,587,344 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $41,019,000 after acquiring an additional 4,549,031 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.