Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $1.30 and traded as high as $1.41. Geron shares last traded at $1.4050, with a volume of 11,474,263 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Geron Stock Up 4.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 5.96 and a quick ratio of 4.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $896.88 million, a P/E ratio of -11.71 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.30.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $47.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.24 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 29.63% and a negative net margin of 43.61%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its position in Geron by 8.0% in the second quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 23,775,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,769,660 shares in the last quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Geron by 572.5% in the 2nd quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,757,000 after purchasing an additional 13,740,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,956,000 after purchasing an additional 584,444 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Geron by 97.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 11,367,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,574,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Geron by 59.6% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 9,527,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,556,160 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geron Company Profile

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing novel treatments that target telomerase, an enzyme critical to cancer cell immortality. The company’s research is focused on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, with a pipeline designed to address diseases that have historically had limited therapeutic options.

The lead product candidate, imetelstat, is a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor currently in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes.