Brokerages Set Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) PT at $7.15

Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.15.

GERN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Geron in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Geron Stock Up 1.7 %

GERN opened at $3.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.25 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.27. 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.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $28.27 million for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Geron will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Geron by 26.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,016,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,550,000 after buying an additional 415,883 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Geron by 7.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 104,924 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 7,115 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Geron by 4.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 262,324 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 10,608 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Geron by 32.7% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 16.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 846,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,590,000 after purchasing an additional 119,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

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.