Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Trading 4.3% Higher - Should You Buy?

Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) shot up 4.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $1.84 and last traded at $1.83. 9,915,648 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 10,848,446 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GERN. B. Riley cut Geron from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on 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 set a $5.00 target price on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Geron Price Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $2.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.45. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -5.20 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GERN. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Geron in the third quarter valued at $1,102,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Geron by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,450,382 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $20,205,000 after acquiring an additional 111,361 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 210.9% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 395,071 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 268,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Geron by 519.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 205,332 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 172,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

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.