Kennedy Capital Management LLC Sells 9,915 Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,125,280 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 9,915 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Geron were worth $3,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Geron by 870.0% during the 1st quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Geron in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Geron by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC now owns 24,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Geron by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 13,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Geron by 367.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 62,820 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 49,394 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GERN. TD Cowen began coverage on Geron in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, June 7th. Robert W. Baird cut Geron from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $4.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Geron in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.93.

Geron Stock Performance

Geron stock remained flat at $4.69 during trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 8,519,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,344,413. Geron Co. has a one year low of $1.64 and a one year high of $5.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.36 and its 200-day moving average is $3.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.67 and a quick ratio of 3.67.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.01. Geron had a negative return on equity of 68.16% and a negative net margin of 38,730.00%. The company had revenue of $0.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.15 million. On average, analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Geron news, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 600,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total transaction of $2,400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 600,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,400,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Faye Feller sold 287,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.63, for a total transaction of $1,332,977.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 600,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total value of $2,400,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 600,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,562,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,808,004. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.