Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Announces Earnings Results

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN – Get Rating) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.01, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $0.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.12 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 8,563.80% and a negative return on equity of 110.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share.

Geron Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of Geron stock opened at $2.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $964.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.03 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.97 and its 200 day moving average is $2.56. Geron has a twelve month low of $1.15 and a twelve month high of $3.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GERN shares. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Geron from $4.00 to $5.00 in a report on Monday, January 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.50.

Insider Activity at Geron

In related news, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 446,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.03, for a total transaction of $1,353,397.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Geron news, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 446,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.03, for a total transaction of $1,353,397.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 384,719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.03, for a total transaction of $1,165,698.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,231,385 shares of company stock worth $3,751,097 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Geron by 12.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,336,930 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,182 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Geron by 13.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,518,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $18,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,868 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Geron by 205.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,584,205 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,620 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Geron by 639.5% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,026,464 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 887,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Geron during the third quarter valued at $1,800,000. 49.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Geron

(Get Rating)

Geron Corp. operates as a biotechnology company. It develops a telomerase inhibitor, Imetelstat, in hematologic myeloid malignancies. The firm develops therapeutic products for oncology. The company was founded by Michael D. West on November 28, 1990 and is headquartered in Foster City, CA.