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

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $2.1667.

GERN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GERN opened at $1.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.62, a current ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.41. Geron has a 52-week low of $1.04 and a 52-week high of $2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $999.80 million, a P/E ratio of -12.00 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Soleus Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Geron by 572.5% in the second quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,757,000 after buying an additional 13,740,000 shares during the period. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Geron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,364,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Geron by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 11,367,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,574,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620,635 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP increased its stake 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. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 9,527,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,576,000 after buying an additional 3,556,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Company Profile

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.