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

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $2.1667.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GERN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, January 29th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th.

Geron Trading Down 5.8%

Shares of GERN stock opened at $1.46 on Friday. Geron has a fifty-two week low of $1.04 and a fifty-two week high of $2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 3.62 and a current ratio of 4.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.37. The company has a market cap of $935.19 million, a P/E ratio of -11.23 and a beta of 0.58.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.02). Geron had a negative return on equity of 28.86% and a negative net margin of 46.65%.The company had revenue of $48.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.43 million. Research analysts forecast that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Geron by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 8,123 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Geron by 12.0% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 9,849 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Geron by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP raised its position in Geron by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP now owns 80,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Geron by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 11,074 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

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.