Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Sold by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lowered its position in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 32.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 250,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 119,600 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Geron were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. Darwin Global Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron during the second quarter worth about $106,185,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Geron by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,565,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $102,193,000 after purchasing an additional 13,163,889 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $82,498,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 124.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 16,837,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $71,389,000 after buying an additional 9,342,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Geron by 11.3% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,072,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,107,000 after buying an additional 715,818 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of GERN opened at $3.98 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.13 and a 200-day moving average of $4.33. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.44 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. Geron Co. has a 1 year low of $1.64 and a 1 year high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $28.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GERN. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank started coverage on Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.05.

Geron Company Profile

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.