Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $7.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Geron to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set an overweight rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Geron has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $7.06.

Geron Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of GERN traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.41. The company had a trading volume of 8,349,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,979,915. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 3.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of -12.60 and a beta of 0.50. Geron has a one year low of $1.64 and a one year high of $5.34. The company's fifty day moving average price is $4.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.89.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.10). The company had revenue of $0.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.34 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 73.79% and a negative net margin of 15,990.68%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2941.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Geron will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Geron

In other Geron news, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 674,348 shares of Geron stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.56, for a total transaction of $3,075,026.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Geron by 3.1% during 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 period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position 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 valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 3,805 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Geron by 18.5% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 36,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 5,689 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Geron by 1,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Geron by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 7,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

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.