Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Short Interest Down 5.4% in November

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 66,350,000 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 70,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.2 days.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of GERN stock opened at $3.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.78 and a beta of 0.51. Geron has a 52 week low of $1.64 and a 52 week high of $5.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $4.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.36.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.15.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GERN. Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,109,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Geron by 461.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 79,923 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 65,687 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Geron by 10,151.4% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,029,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Geron by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,067,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $59,339,000 after purchasing an additional 231,178 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.