Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2.50.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Geron from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of GERN opened at $1.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 4.96 and a current ratio of 6.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $776.24 million, a P/E ratio of -11.00 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.44. Geron has a 1 year low of $1.04 and a 1 year 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, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Geron will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Geron by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,519 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 6,713 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Geron by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,891 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 7,840 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Geron by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 8,123 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Geron by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Velan Capital Investment Management LP lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is 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.