RTW Investments LP Makes New $200.27 Million Investment in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

RTW Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 44,111,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $200,268,000. Geron makes up approximately 2.9% of RTW Investments LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. RTW Investments LP owned about 7.30% of Geron at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Global Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Geron in the second quarter worth $106,185,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Geron by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,565,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $102,193,000 after buying an additional 13,163,889 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter worth about $82,498,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 124.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 16,837,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $71,389,000 after buying an additional 9,342,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,072,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,107,000 after acquiring an additional 715,818 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Stock Performance

GERN traded down $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $3.98. The company had a trading volume of 6,347,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,244,218. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.44 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. Geron Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.64 and a fifty-two week high of $5.34. The company's fifty day moving average is $4.13 and its 200 day moving average is $4.33.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on GERN shares. Leerink Partners began coverage on Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright began coverage on Geron in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Geron presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $7.05.

Geron 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.