Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.05.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright started coverage on Geron in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated 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 note on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Trading of Geron

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Geron by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 115,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 13.6% during the third quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 30,674 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,668 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Geron by 32.7% in the second 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. boosted its position in 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 valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 4,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Geron by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,630 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,559 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geron Price Performance

NASDAQ:GERN traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $4.04. 2,734,591 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,314,300. 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's 50-day moving average is $4.16 and its 200-day moving average is $4.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.59 and a beta of 0.52. Geron has a 1-year low of $1.64 and a 1-year high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.