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

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.15.

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

Geron Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GERN opened at $3.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.47 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.31. Geron has a twelve month low of $1.64 and a twelve month high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.05. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The firm had revenue of $28.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. Geron’s quarterly revenue was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in Geron by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 2,612 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 115,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,465 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Geron by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 30,674 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Geron by 23.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 4,094 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.