Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2.50.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of GERN opened at $1.29 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1.56 and its 200-day moving average is $1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $827.56 million, a P/E ratio of -11.73 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 6.78 and a quick ratio of 4.96. Geron has a 12-month low of $1.04 and a 12-month high of $2.01.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 63,771,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,178,000 after buying an additional 3,392,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,660,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,072,000 after buying an additional 1,237,844 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,867,322 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,465,000 after purchasing an additional 248,508 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 8.0% during the second quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 23,775,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769,660 shares during the period. Finally, Eversept Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 17,659,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,311,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,981 shares during the period. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Geron

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.