Geron's (GERN) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $6.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Geron in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of Geron to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Geron has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.15.

Geron Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of GERN traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $3.86. 11,290,082 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,172,121. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.34. Geron has a 12 month low of $1.64 and a 12 month high of $5.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The company had revenue of $28.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17138.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GERN. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 115,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,465 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,668 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Geron by 32.7% during 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. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 4,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company's stock.

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.