Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.25.

Several brokerages have weighed in on GERN. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised shares of Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Geron Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of GERN opened at $2.96 on Tuesday. Geron has a 52-week low of $1.64 and a 52-week high of $5.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of -9.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. Geron’s quarterly revenue was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Geron will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Geron by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its holdings in shares of Geron by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Geron by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 30,674 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,668 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Geron by 23.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 4,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Geron by 32.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,630 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 5,559 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

About Geron

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis.