Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 39,115 Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 30.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 91,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 39,115 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Geron were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GERN. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Geron by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 7,034 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 7.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 104,924 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 7,115 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 870.0% during the first quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Geron in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Geron by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 130,316 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 10,813 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Geron

In related news, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 674,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.56, for a total value of $3,075,026.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Geron Price Performance

Shares of Geron stock opened at $4.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.89 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.60 and a current ratio of 3.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4.57 and its 200 day moving average is $3.95. Geron Co. has a one year low of $1.64 and a one year high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). Geron had a negative return on equity of 73.79% and a negative net margin of 15,990.68%. The company had revenue of $0.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2941.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GERN. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.06.

Geron 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.