1,211,700 Shares in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Acquired by Natixis

Natixis bought a new position in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,211,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $4,289,000. Natixis owned approximately 0.20% of Geron as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GERN. Rovin Capital UT ADV increased its stake in shares of Geron by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Geron by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,401 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 24,414 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 7,592 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Geron in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Geron by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Stock Performance

GERN stock remained flat at $1.42 during midday trading on Friday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,357,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,482,706. The firm has a market cap of $904.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.44 and a beta of 0.66. Geron Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.17 and a fifty-two week high of $5.34. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.95. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $47.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. Research analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GERN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley downgraded shares of Geron from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Geron Company 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.