Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $1.45 and traded as high as $1.50. Geron shares last traded at $1.49, with a volume of 11,041,883 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Geron from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Geron has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.50.

Geron Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of -14.18 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.31 and a 200 day moving average of $1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 4.96 and a current ratio of 6.78.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Geron had a negative net margin of 35.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.31%. The company had revenue of $51.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.59 million. Equities research analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,519 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 6,713 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Geron by 23.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,891 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 7,840 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Geron by 2.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 8,123 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Geron by 12.0% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,849 shares during the period. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Geron by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

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.