Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Price Target Raised to $7.00

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) had its target price upped by Needham & Company LLC from $6.00 to $7.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GERN. Scotiabank began coverage on Geron in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.25.

Geron Stock Performance

GERN stock opened at $3.01 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.73 and its 200 day moving average is $4.19. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Geron will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Geron by 13.3% during 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 period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Geron by 3.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its position in Geron by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Geron by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 4,094 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.