Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) saw a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,630,000 shares, a decrease of 21.9% from the February 28th total of 58,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 15,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 7.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Geron Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of GERN stock traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $1.55. The stock had a trading volume of 18,369,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,311,633. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Geron has a one year low of $1.46 and a one year high of $5.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $2.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.35. The company has a market cap of $984.02 million, a PE ratio of -4.83 and a beta of 0.54.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $47.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. Research analysts anticipate that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,450,382 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,205,000 after buying an additional 111,361 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Geron by 519.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 205,332 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 172,160 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Geron by 13.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,020,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,634,000 after purchasing an additional 118,688 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Geron during the third quarter worth $7,521,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 256.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 47,455 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 34,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GERN. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.75.

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.