Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN – Get Free Report) shot up 2.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $4.68 and last traded at $4.68. 1,700,891 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 11,063,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.56.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
GERN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on Geron in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Geron from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $4.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Geron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.07.
Geron Stock Performance
The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.31 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.67 and a current ratio of 3.67.
Geron (NASDAQ:GERN – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). Geron had a negative net margin of 38,730.00% and a negative return on equity of 68.16%. The business had revenue of $0.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.34 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2941.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.35 EPS for the current year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total value of $2,400,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 600,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,400,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 674,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.56, for a total value of $3,075,026.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total transaction of $2,400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 600,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,400,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,562,248 shares of company stock worth $6,808,004 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Geron
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Geron by 1,200.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 870.0% in the first quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Geron during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. American Trust purchased a new stake in Geron during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Geron by 32.7% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 3,805 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.
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.