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

Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.75.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, B. Riley lowered Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Geron Price Performance

Geron stock opened at $1.64 on Wednesday. Geron has a 12 month low of $1.46 and a 12 month high of $5.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of -5.13 and a beta of 0.53.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The business had revenue of $47.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.29 million. Equities analysts predict that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Fifth Lane Capital LP purchased a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. 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.