Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Up 3.7% - Here's Why

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 3.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.95 and last traded at $3.95. Approximately 907,775 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 10,134,883 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GERN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.15.

Geron Stock Up 3.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -12.28 and a beta of 0.51. The company's 50 day moving average is $4.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The company had revenue of $28.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.97 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Geron's quarterly revenue was up 17138.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Geron in the 2nd quarter worth $1,076,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Geron by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,016,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,550,000 after buying an additional 415,883 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Geron by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 104,924 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 7,115 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 262,324 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 10,608 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is 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.