Geron Corporation $GERN Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its stake in Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) by 14.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,970,923 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,015,009 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.94% of Geron worth $8,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Geron by 73.8% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 11,074 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Geron by 204.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 34,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 22,993 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Geron in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Geron in the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geron during the third quarter valued at about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Geron Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GERN opened at $1.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 4.87, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 0.62. Geron Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $1.04 and a fifty-two week high of $2.66.

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.