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

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Buy" by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.25.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GERN shares. Barclays raised Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of Geron by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its stake in shares of Geron by 26.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted 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 period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 4,094 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 32.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,630 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 5,559 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of GERN stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $2.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,023,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,747,881. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.65 and a 200 day moving average of $4.16. Geron has a 12-month low of $1.64 and a 12-month high of $5.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of -9.20 and a beta of 0.55.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Geron will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.