Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Short Interest Update

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 71,510,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the August 31st total of 67,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GERN. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Geron to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Geron in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Geron

In other news, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 674,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.56, for a total transaction of $3,075,026.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Geron by 3.1% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 115,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 3,465 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Geron by 32.7% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Geron by 18.5% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 36,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 5,689 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Geron by 1,200.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Geron by 12.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 7,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GERN traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.41. 7,575,236 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,778,605. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.16. Geron has a 52-week low of $1.64 and a 52-week high of $5.34. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.60 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). Geron had a negative net margin of 15,990.68% and a negative return on equity of 73.79%. The business had revenue of $0.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2941.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Geron will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

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.