Vestal Point Capital LP Takes $4.77 Million Position in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,050,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,767,000. Vestal Point Capital LP owned about 0.17% of Geron as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Global Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Geron during the 2nd quarter worth about $106,185,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Geron during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,315,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Geron by 999.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,064,963 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,877,184 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Geron in the second quarter worth $539,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Geron by 124.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 16,837,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $71,389,000 after purchasing an additional 9,342,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Geron in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners began coverage on Geron in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Geron to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.05.

Geron Stock Up 2.7 %

Geron stock opened at $4.17 on Friday. Geron Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.64 and a fifty-two week high of $5.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of -13.03 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $4.18 and its 200-day moving average is $4.32.

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

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.