Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03), Zacks reports. Geron had a negative net margin of 53.52% and a negative return on equity of 31.37%. The company had revenue of $47.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 million.

Geron Stock Performance

NASDAQ GERN traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.09. The company had a trading volume of 8,688,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,224,085. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 6.79 and a current ratio of 7.87. Geron has a 1-year low of $1.04 and a 1-year high of $4.33. The company has a market cap of $692.25 million, a PE ratio of -8.35 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1.30 and a 200-day moving average of $1.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GERN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Geron in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $1.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.64.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Geron by 551.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 78,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 66,294 shares during the last quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 6.2% in the second quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 3,414,377 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,814,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Geron by 12.0% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,849 shares during the last quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 572.5% in the 2nd quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,757,000 after acquiring an additional 13,740,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP raised its position in Geron by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 23,775,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769,660 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.