Barclays PLC Acquires 694,931 Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 114.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,299,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 694,931 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.22% of Geron worth $5,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 3.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 115,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Geron by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 30,674 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 3,668 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Geron by 32.7% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 3,805 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Geron by 23.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 4,094 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Geron by 32.6% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,630 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 5,559 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geron Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of Geron stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.49. The company had a trading volume of 26,317,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,214,938. Geron Co. has a 52-week low of $1.64 and a 52-week high of $5.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.03 and a 200 day moving average of $4.35.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GERN shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.15.

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.